Meet Eric Amoateng: Ghana’s first sitting MP jailed in the US for drug trafficking

• Eric Amoateng became Ghana’s first sitting MP jailed in the US for drug trafficking.

• He was arrested in 2005 over a multi-million-dollar heroin smuggling operation.

• His case has resurfaced following the detention of MP Kwame Ohene Frimpong in Amsterdam.

Twenty (20) years apart, two (2) Members of Parliament, two international scandals, and one uncomfortable question that continues to haunt Ghana’s political system.

The detention of Asante Akyem North MP Kwame Ohene Frimpong at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam this week has revived memories of one of the darkest episodes in Ghana’s parliamentary history.

The dramatic fall of Eric Amoateng, the first sitting Ghanaian MP to be jailed abroad for drug trafficking.

Though separated by twenty (20) years, both cases have reignited public debate about vetting, accountability, and the growing embarrassment of elected Ghanaian officials ending up in the custody of foreign authorities over serious criminal investigations.

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Eric Amoateng entered Ghana’s Parliament in January 2005 as the first MP for the newly created Nkoranza North Constituency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party.

At the time, he was regarded as a respected figure in his community. A trained teacher, religion scholar from the University of Ghana, and traditional leader known as Nana Amoateng Ameyaw II, he appeared to embody the image of a trusted public servant.

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However, less than a year into office, his political career came crashing down.

On November 11, 2005, Amoateng was arrested in the United States alongside two associates after US authorities intercepted more than 80 kilograms of heroin hidden inside pottery shipped from London to Newark Airport.

According to reports at the time, the heroin had an estimated street value of over $6 million.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Amoateng, Nii Okai Adjei, and Gamelie Kuonoe after they arrived to collect the shipment at a storage facility in Staten Island.

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Back in Ghana, then Chairman of the Narcotics Control Board, Nkrabea Effah Dartey, confirmed that the man arrested was indeed the sitting MP for Nkoranza North.

Amoateng was subsequently charged with conspiracy to distribute heroin and denied bail.

The arrest triggered a political and constitutional crisis in Ghana.

For months, Parliament struggled to determine what action should be taken regarding Amoateng’s seat.

While sections of the opposition demanded an immediate by-election, some leaders within the ruling NPP argued that he remained innocent until proven guilty.

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His supporters also mounted a fierce defence campaign back home.

In March 2006, sympathisers in his constituency organised solidarity rallies, with some carrying placards reading: “Cocaine or No Cocaine Amoateng Is Still Our MP.”

Despite sending a resignation letter to Parliament in May 2006, procedural disagreements meant the resignation was not accepted immediately.

He technically remained an MP until Parliament eventually moved to formally address his prolonged absence in January 2007.

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That same year, Amoateng pleaded guilty in a US court.

On December 12, 2007, Judge David G. Trager sentenced him to ten (10) years in federal prison at a court in Brooklyn, New York.

He served his sentence at the Moshannon Valley Correctional Center in Pennsylvania before being released and deported to Ghana in August 2014.

Following his return, Amoateng faced another legal challenge after being accused of possessing a forged passport allegedly issued while he was still in prison.

However, he was acquitted after prosecutors failed to prove he knowingly possessed a fraudulent document.

Now, nearly twenty (20) years later, Ghana is once again confronting a similar controversy involving a sitting lawmaker.

On May 12, 2026, the Parliament of Ghana confirmed in a statement that Kwame Ohene Frimpong had been detained at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

The statement, signed by Clerk to Parliament Ebenezer Ahumah Djietror, noted that parliamentary leadership was engaging Ghana’s diplomatic mission in The Hague for further details.

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While officials have not publicly disclosed the exact reasons for the detention, multiple reports suggest Frimpong is linked to an FBI-coordinated international financial crimes investigation involving alleged money laundering and romance scams reportedly worth about $32 million.

Reports indicate Dutch authorities detained the MP in collaboration with international investigators shortly after he arrived in the Netherlands.

Frimpong, popularly known as OK Frimpong, won the Asante Akyem North parliamentary seat as an independent candidate in the 2024 general elections after breaking away from the NPP.

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Prior to the latest development, he had publicly denied allegations linking him to financial crimes and human trafficking-related investigations.

As of now, no formal charges have been publicly confirmed, and investigations remain ongoing.

The cases of Amoateng and Frimpong involve different allegations, but together they expose a troubling pattern Ghana has yet to fully address.

In Amoateng’s case, Parliament spent months struggling with how to handle the absence of a sitting MP arrested abroad for one of the largest heroin seizures linked to a Ghanaian public official.

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Now, with Frimpong detained in Amsterdam under another international investigation, questions are once again being raised about candidate vetting, institutional accountability, and what mechanisms exist when lawmakers become subjects of foreign criminal probes.

For many Ghanaians, the similarities are difficult to ignore.

And for the people of Asante Akyem North, uncertainty over representation has already begun.