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Claim: Multiple Facebook users have claimed a cocaine haul from Ghana to the Netherlands was recently seized in Amsterdam.
Verdict: Misleading. While there was indeed a seizure of drugs allegedly from Ghana in the Netherlands, the incident happened in June 2025 and not in 2026 as suggested in recent publications.
Full Text
On Sept. 30, 2026, Asaase Radio reported that Dutch authorities had recently uncovered and destroyed a record 4,500kg of cocaine hidden in a timber shipment from Ghana. Several social media accounts, such as here and here, also shared the claim.
Screenshot of the Facebook post
The posts come amid other reports about drug busts related to shipments from Ghana in France and Australia. The reports have triggered public concern and heightened official scrutiny. The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) arrested some local suspects in connection with the latter case.
More recently, NACOC also announced the arrest of three suspects alleged to be accomplices of wanted drug Lord Jos Leijdekkers, in connection with the shipment of cocaine from Ghana seized in France.
The publication by Asaase Radio claimed that “on 14 November 2026, the NL Times, echoing local broadcaster AT5, reported that a 69-year-old Amsterdam resident had been arrested over the 4,500 kg cocaine haul, the largest ever in the port’s history.” While some social media users reshared the claim, others doubted its credibility, noting it may be outdated.
Screenshot of the report
Given the claim’s virality, DUBAWA decided to investigate.
Verification
To verify this claim, DUBAWA conducted multiple Google searches using keywords including “2026”, “Netherlands”, “Cocaine” and “Ghana”, but all reports that emerged were Asaase Radio’s article and social media posts from Ghana about the claims in the post.
DUBAWA then directly visited the NL Times, an Amsterdam-based English-language news portal, which was cited as the source of the Asaase Radio report and also included “NL Times” as a keyword in its search. The result included a report of a cocaine bust in Amsterdam with a connection to Ghana.
However, the report was dated Nov. 14, 2025, suggesting the incident happened last year.
Screenshot of the report on NL Times
Other outlets, including Ghana Business News and Ports Europe, also reported on the seizure back in 2025.
Given that it is plausible Ghana was only recently named in connection with the bust, DUBAWA conducted additional searches on social media.
We found that Ghana had already been named in the original reports around the seizure, such as here, here, here and here.
The Asaase Radio report and other social media posts regarding a 4,500kg cocaine bust inbound from Ghana to the Netherlands appear to have regurgitated the 2025 incident as a recent occurrence.
Conclusion
Based on the above, we conclude that the report of a 4,500kg cocaine bust inbound from Ghana to the Netherlands, as published by Asaase Radio and some social media accounts, is misleading.
