Operation White Ember’: NACOC festive raids net 72 in Eastern, Greater Accra

The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it has shut down a number of drug dens and arrested 72 suspects in a series of intelligence-led raids across the Eastern and Greater Accra regions.

The festive-season crackdown, codenamed Operation White Ember, targeted well-known drug hotspots from Mamfe and Tutu in the Eastern Region to Madina Redco Flats, Zongo Junction and the railway slums around Airport City in Accra.

On Boxing Day, the operation was extended to Tema Community One and Teshie Nungua, where further arrests were made and quantities of suspected narcotic substances were seized with the support of NACOC K9 units.

As part of a wider security sweep over the Christmas period, NACOC officers also mounted patrols at shopping malls and beaches in the capital in a bid to disrupt open drug use and dealing.

The Commission said the substances intercepted included ecstasy, methamphetamine and cannabis-infused alcoholic drinks, which it described as representing “thousands of lives saved from the brink of addiction” over the festive season.

NACOC stressed that the exercise was aimed at ensuring Christmas “remains a season of joy rather than tragedy” in public spaces, residential areas, beaches and informal settlements.

Officials also used the raids to engage residents who gathered at the scenes, holding brief on-the-spot sensitisation sessions on the risks of drug abuse and its wider impact on community safety.

The Commission has indicated that Operation White Ember will continue in the coming weeks and months as part of sustained efforts to combat narcotics trafficking and improve public security nationwide.