Security analyst Prof Vladimir Antwi-Danso has warned that the attempted export of methamphetamine from Ghana to Australia points to serious intelligence failures and the possible infiltration of state institutions by organised crime, saying the country must act quickly to avoid turning into a narco-state.Speaking on the Midday News on Joy FM, Prof Antwi-Danso said the case should not be treated as an isolated criminal act but as part of a much bigger international drug trade often driven by powerful and well-connected figures rather than low-level operators.His comments come after Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak told Parliament’s Assurances Committee that several government officials were under investigation over the attempted export of methamphetamine to Australia.Prof Antwi-Danso warned about what he described as a failure in intelligence and early detection. He said the case raises difficult questions about how such a shipment could be prepared and moved out of Ghana without being stopped by the country’s security and intelligence structures.When asked about the security lapses that may have allowed the attempted export, he said, “Intelligence gathering.”For him, the issue goes beyond one shipment and points to a wider failure to track suspicious activity, illicit money flows, and the lifestyles of people whose wealth may not match any visible legitimate source of income.“I’m worried about how we lost riches. You see the big, big high-rise buildings are coming. Somebody comes to TV to show off. A pastor is being shown with 26 vehicles, Rolls-Royce, what not. And we lost them.”He said that Ghana has normalised conspicuous wealth without asking enough questions about how that wealth was acquired, and said that culture itself creates a national security risk.“We give currency to such things. And therefore, we don’t go behind; how do they get the money within a short time like that? … The currency we give such opulence is one of the big security risks.”When asked whether he was singling out pastors as a safe cover for criminal activity, Prof Antwi-Danso clarified that his concern was not limited to religious leaders. Rather, he said the danger lies in the possibility that people in positions of trust, influence, or authority may be benefiting from the trade while appearing respectable in public.“That’s not the only safe place. You know, you don’t expect a pastor to be engaged in this. You don’t expect a high-ranking officer to engage in this, or a high politician who suits you to engage in this.”“But probably, and I use the word advisory, probably these are the people who benefit from the trade, knowing very well that they’ve bought the system,” he added.Prof Antwi-Danso warned that if Ghana fails to confront the networks behind the meth case, the country risks becoming a narco-state in which criminal syndicates influence public institutions and national decision-making.“So if you don’t take care, Ghana is going to be a narco-state, where if you are not part of the narco system, you don’t belong to the state,” he said.He pointed to Guinea-Bissau as a cautionary example, saying the West African country has long been associated with instability linked to drug trafficking and institutional capture.“Just likeGuinea-Bissau. And you see all the risks in Guinea-Bissau. Almost every year there is a coup, killings, and whatnot.”“Because everybody is into the narco trade, the chain. And the people have bought everything, the policemen, the court system; every system has been bought by the people.”Prof Antwi-Danso said the details emerging from the Interior Minister’s briefing suggest that the problem may be broader and more deeply rooted than a single criminal operation.Referring to the minister’s description of methods allegedly used by drug traffickers, he said the signs point to a system that may already be compromised.“Look at the minister explaining how ambulances are being used, how the bullion vans are being used. So you can imagine that it is systemic. And that’s dangerous. That’s the danger of it,” he said.Prof Antwi-Danso said one of the most troubling aspects of the case is the suggestion that Ghana may have been used as a repackaging and transit point for drugs destined for foreign markets.“Come to think of it, these drugs may have been brought to Ghana, repackaged in charcoal, and we know Ghana is a charcoal-producing country, and then shipped to Australia. So it’s not the small fishes, it’s the big fishes in the country.”“So I’m happy the minister has promised that they were going to go after them. Let’s pray that they do,” he added.He also linked the latest case to a wider regional and global narcotics economy, saying West Africa continues to face the risk of becoming a transit and processing hub for international drug syndicates.“In 2012, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated that a whole factory manufacturing methamphetamine was found in Nigeria,” he said. “And I thought that was the headquarters of the manufacturing of methamphetamine. But maybe they needed a conduit. They needed a place where they could repackage them, say Ghana, say Côte d’Ivoire.”Prof Antwi-Danso said the long-term consequences could be severe if Ghana does not strengthen surveillance, investigate unexplained wealth and ensure that the current probe reaches the masterminds behind the operation.“I think the whole slave trade, the transatlantic slave trade, has now been replaced with transatlantic narcotism,” he said. “And we must be very careful. Because the residue will remain in the country and our citizens will make use of it.”