Lebanon would have debunked NACOC’s collaboration claim if false – Agalga

Majority Leader James Agalga has defended the Narcotics Control Commission's (NACOC) account of its involvement in the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker in Lebanon, insisting that the Lebanese authorities would have publicly challenged the Commission's claims if they were untrue.

He said the absence of any public repudiation of NACOC's statement by the Lebanese authorities supported the Commission's position that the arrest followed a coordinated operation involving security agencies from both countries.

Mr Agalga was speaking at a media briefing ahead of the first day of parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, November 3, amid growing debate over the circumstances surrounding the arrest.

NACOC had earlier announced that the arrest of a Syrian national at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 31, followed a controlled delivery operation undertaken in collaboration with Lebanese drug law enforcement authorities.

The suspect was arrested after arriving from Accra with approximately 40 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine concealed in two pieces of luggage.

Addressing questions about the Commission's account of the operation, Mr Agalga said it was unreasonable to expect law enforcement agencies to publicly disclose details of their intelligence-sharing arrangements.

“NACOC came out with a statement to the effect that they engaged in collaboration with other security agencies abroad, and that ensured that the controlled delivery was done. The people are saying that the Lebanese authorities ought to have admitted per their statements, including that they actually collaborated with our security agencies. But then they applied the same logic.

“If what our law enforcement agency is saying is leading or false, why hasn't the Lebanese authorities repudiated the claim of NACOP? It's as simple as that,” he said.

He questioned why the Lebanese authorities, having seen NACOC's public statement, had not issued a clarification if the Commission's account was inaccurate.

Mr Agalga also rejected calls for NACOC to publicly provide evidence of its alleged collaboration with its Lebanese counterparts, arguing that doing so could expose sensitive intelligence sources and operational arrangements.

“You are asking NACOC to come and prove that they actually collaborated with their counterparts in Lebanon. In my security studies, security agencies don’t operate in that manner. You want them to come and reveal their intelligence sources to you? Is that what we are saying? Let's not reduce this debate to those letters. Let's get serious,” he said.

He maintained that the Commission would not have publicly made claims of international cooperation without having a basis for doing so.

“NACOP would not stick their necks out and make such a statement if there was no coordination and collaboration,” he added.

The Majority Leader further explained that controlled delivery was an established law enforcement technique used in tackling transnational organised crime.

“In any case, controlled delivery is a technique law enforcement agencies apply,” he said.

The controversy follows questions raised about the decision to allow the suspected drug consignment to travel from Ghana to Lebanon before the arrest was made at the Beirut airport.

NACOC has maintained that the operation was designed to identify and apprehend individuals at different points in the drug supply chain and gather intelligence to dismantle the wider trafficking network.

The Commission has also said efforts are ongoing to identify and arrest suspected accomplices in Ghana.