Youngsters Now Drug Couriers

By Daily Graphic

Drug barons are now luring young people into the drug business as traffickers.

Mr Francis O. Amoah, Public Relations Officer of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), who gave the hint in Accra, noted that although the number of arrests involving young drug traffickers was low, the practice was the new method being adopted by the drug barons.

Speaking in an interview, he said for instance that the only arrest made this year involved an 18-year-old boy resident in the country who swallowed 53 pellets of cocaine with the aim of taking them to Europe.

He was, however, arrested at the airport and, upon interrogation, he disclosed that a friend had introduced him to the drug business with the promise of giving him him money in return.

Mr Amoah disclosed that although the teenager said it was his first time, there was every indication that his supposed friend had capitalised on his innocence.

He said the drug barons were now using young people because they could easily be convinced.

"The desire to get rich quickly and curiosity to engage in the drug business were also some of the reasons," he added.

Furthermore, he said security personnel at the airport were also not very suspicious of young people so the drug barons now capitalised on that.

On some of the new trends young people who used drugs had adopted, the PRO revealed that those who used drugs did not use them at home, for fear of being seen by their parents. "Very often, they use them when they attend functions such as parties."

Mr Amoah cautioned that narcotic drugs could destroy the lives of young people, adding that once they started using them, "they will use their spare time to think of where they can get the drugs, instead of doing their schoolwork".

Story by Augustina Tawiah