Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: The United Nations Office of Drug and Crime (UNODC) marks 26th June as International Day against Drug and Illicit Trafficking since 1987, and celebrated it this year with slogan of “Health for Justice and Justice for Health.”
UNODC urges international community to build technical capacity within government and non-government institutions for effective fighting against drug worldwide.
Khalid Mohed, spokesperson for Afghanistan’s Counter Narcotics Justices Center, said Wednesday that capacities within the Afghan government increased comparing with the past years. “The development led to decrease drug trafficking from Afghanistan to its neighboring countries.”
Mohed said, in contrast, trafficking of chemical materials used for the process of drug from neighboring countries to Afghanistan increased.
Counter Narcotics Justices Center announced as many as 321 suspects were arrested on charge of drug trafficking in the past three months. Out of the 321 suspects, 293 of them were each sentenced to serve one year to 30 years behind bars.
United Nation’s Agency of Drug, however, notes effective fighting against drug includes accountability of government institutions and providing health and social services for drug-addicted people.
Merza Mohammad Yarmand, former deputy of Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs, blamed government related organizations and international agencies for failure of combating drugs in the country. He said fighting drug was not prioritized, and efforts were reactions to activities of drug-traffickers.
“The international community should have taken firm decisions on fighting drug,” said Yarmand, adding, “the international market of drug must be destroyed, so dollars would not be flown to the country for drug trafficking.”
Last year, regional governments’ experts gathered in Kabul and once in Islamabad to discuss a possible regional strategy how to fight drug trafficking, but it has ended without any strategy.
Yarmand, a military expert term relationship between high-ups of regional countries with drug dealers as sole reason behind failure to crack drug trafficking.
Despite the fact that regional countries suffered more from drug-related activities, but yet to wage comprehensive campaign or direct fight on drug dealers.
