The 14000 tonnes of sugar on board MV St. Etrem, the vessel on which five parcels of cocaine weighing 165 kilogrammes was found at the Tema Harbour on Tuesday, are being off loaded.
The exercise which started at 9am yesterday is to find out if more of the narcotic drug could still be concealed among the load of sugar, a source close to the Security Task Force disclosed to the Times.
The source said eight thousand tonnes of the sugar was for the country, while the destination of the remaining six thousand tonnes was meant for the Port of Matardi in the Congo.
But the source said the entire load would be discharged for thorough examination before a decision could be taken on the consignment for the Congo.
The exercise for which 60 security personnel were deployed according to the source, would take about 20 days to complete.
The exercise, the source explained involved touching the load to warehouses, guarding the warehouses and providing security at the scanner.
The source said the contents of two sacks found floating near the docked vessel are yet to be certified by the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
A team of security personnel in a joint exercise known as the Global Container Control Programme at the Tema Harbour last Tuesday intercepted the cocaine on board the vessel from Brazil.
The substances were found concealed among bags of sugar during routine checks on ships that docked at the harbour.
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