Sunday Times 2
Is Sri Lanka being turned into a nation of druggies?
In the past two months, Sri Lanka had been rudderless, headless and a static nation due to the political turmoil. In spite of this, law enforcement agencies and the armed forces carried out their duties nonchalantly without being distracted by the situation in the country.
The Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) was established specifically to deal with the problem of ever increasing smuggling, trafficking and the possession of narcotic drugs in our country. The PNB should be congratulated for having seized a whopping 399kg of heroin. It is not the monetary value of the drugs which we should be talking about. Instead, our focus should be on the devastating impact it would have on Sri Lanka and its people, especially the youths, had the drugs been not detected.
Today, all types of narcotic drugs are freely available in this country. Local ganja, kerala ganja, heroin, cocaine, Ice and any designer drug can be bought easily. I would like to draw your attention to the drugs detected by the PNB in the first eleven months of this year and the Police Department in general. Most of the PNB’s major detections were due to the “team work” and coordination between various agencies. Please see graphic for the quantity of drug detections made by the PNB and the Police for this year up to November.
Team work.
The PNB’s most significant detection was made this month, when it seized 231 kg of heroin and arrested three suspects on board a trawler in the seas off Beruwela. Subject to correction, this is the most significant detection by the PNB, whilst the drugs were being smuggled into the country. From what has been reported, this detection was made possible through the combined efforts of the officers of the PNB, the Navy and the Special Task Force. It was also reported that intelligence about the transshipment has been passed on to the PNB by a foreign country’s drug trafficking monitoring agency. If not for the coordination and cooperation and the receipt of intelligence, this massive detection could not have been made.
Combined task force
I have always emphasised that a permanent combined task force consisting of officers from the PNB, the Navy, the Air Force, the Customs and the Excise Department should be formed and brought under the National Dangerous Drugs Control Board (NDDCB), so that meaningful and positive action can be taken to prevent large-scale smuggling of drugs. It is through illegal entry points and through the airports that narcotic drugs are smuggled into the country from the neighbouring countries such as India and Pakistan.
Intelligence gathering is vital for detection. Under the proposed task force, a drug intelligence unit must be established to gather intelligence by way of penetrating smuggling cartels and and through a network of informants.The setting up of such a task force is an urgent need, as more and more homes are destroyed as a result of a family member becoming a drug addict. Many families have lost their wealth and the peace of mind. Parents are so helpless that they even contemplate suicide, or even wish their drug-addict child had been dead.
Reduction of demand and supply
It is clear that there is an increasing demand for narcotic drugs, especially heroin, from unemployed youths, students and even adults. The issue of demand and the supply has to be seriously addressed. Action should be taken at school level to conduct preventive programmes so that the demand can be curtailed.
Unless and otherwise a combined and consolidated effort is made and the PNB strengthened with both men and materials, our country will not be able to come out of this dangerous situation of more and more people becoming “druggies”.
(The writer is a retired Inspector General of Police)