The Minority Caucus on Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee is calling for the immediate suspension of Ghana’s maritime and port cooperation arrangements with Colombia over concerns about cocaine trafficking.

The Caucus is also calling for the suspension of the bilateral visa-waiver arrangement between Ghana and Colombia, pending a comprehensive security review.

In a statement signed by the Ranking Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Samuel A. Jinapor, the Minority described recent large-scale cocaine seizures linked to Ghana as a national security concern.

The call follows the seizure by French customs authorities in September of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the port of Dunkirk. The cocaine, valued at about €225 million, was concealed in a container of plastic waste arriving from Ghana.

Four people have since been remanded in Ghana over their alleged involvement in the export of about four tonnes of cocaine from Ghana to France. The accused have pleaded not guilty, and investigations are continuing.

Dutch authorities seized nearly 4.5 tonnes of cocaine in June 2025 from a wood shipment from Ghana, while Belgian authorities have also seized cocaine in consignments from Ghana at the port of Antwerp.

The concerns extend beyond cocaine. Australian authorities seized about 320 kilogrammes of methamphetamine in June 2026 from containers declared as charcoal and traced to Ghana.

In September, a 52-year-old South African man was arrested at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg with suspected heroin after arriving from Accra, according to South African authorities.

Ghana and Colombia announced an agreement in March 2026 to establish a direct maritime shipping route linking the Port of Tema with the Port of Cartagena.

The agreement was announced by Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa following negotiations in Bogotá. It is intended to facilitate trade between Africa and Latin America by improving logistics and reducing transit times.

The agreement followed earlier discussions on port cooperation. In December 2025, Colombia’s Vice President Francia Elena Márquez Mina visited the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and expressed interest in strengthening cooperation between the two countries’ ports, including establishing a direct maritime route.

Ghana and Colombia also have a bilateral visa-waiver arrangement. Ghana included Colombia among the countries with which it had secured visa-free or visa-waiver access for Ghanaian passport holders.

The Minority is calling for the suspension of both the maritime and port cooperation arrangements and the visa-waiver arrangement, pending a comprehensive security review.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2026 World Drug Report identifies Colombia as the main departure country for cocaine shipments worldwide between 2020 and 2024, ahead of Peru and Brazil.