Daily Times

The federal and Sindh governments on Friday decided to join hands to launch crackdown against top drug barons to eradicate the menace of drugs from Sindh.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi jointly chaired a meeting here, attended by all federal and provincial forces and agencies responsible for choking down illicit business of drugs.

Addressing the meeting, Shehryar Afridi said the Ministry of Narcotics Control is fighting for the future generations. “Pakistan’s strategic location is key as 85 percent drugs are produced in Afghanistan. We are effectively working to plug the narcotics movement at borders along Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. All agencies are working to block the movement of synthetic drugs through border with Iran,” he said.

Afridi urged the Sindh government to work with federal agencies to fight the menace. “Sindh Regional Directorate of Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) needs Sindh government’s support for a joint strategy for crackdown against top drug barons. Rather than arresting drug addicts, we need to shift focus on drug peddlers and drug dealers,” he said. “We have zero tolerance against the drugs menace and we need support from all state agencies,” he said. “Educational institutions are being targeted by drug dealers. Police role is vital in this regard. We need to cut arteries of drugs supply as demand is rising now,” he added.

The minister stressed the need to work on launching a cohesive awareness campaign as most of parents and even students don’t know about synthetic drugs. “Elite schools are being especially targeted. Innovative ways are being adopted to supply drugs. Teachers also need to play their role in this regard,” he said.

The minister said his ministry is going to launch a mobile phone application called ‘Zindagi’ to make people aware of all sorts of drugs. He said the ministry has also launched a global data bank of criminals involved in narcotics trade and money laundering updates data from 250 sources globally. “Regulatory framework for rehabilitation centres is also very important. The Ministry of Health may develop a special section for rehabilitation of drug addicts at each and every hospital. Provincial governments have a lead role in this regard. We are also planning to introduce oral drugs to avoid injectable as injections in use of drugs are leading to spread of HIV, hepatitis and other diseases,” he said. “We need to work as a team as the challenge is huge. It’s all about our future generations,” he added.

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah urged the ANF to cooperate with Sindh government so as its agencies can benefit from ministry’s international data bank on criminals involved in crimes related to drugs and money laundering. He said the Sindh government will engage the ANF with its anti-narcotics operations to launch crackdowns against the drug barons. “We need to focus on smashing the supply chain and choke the borders too. We are ready to eradicate drugs business. We will take responsibility of eradication of narcotics business and ANF may provide us proper intelligence,” he added.

“We need to take along private sector and are also working on stringent legislation and regulations. Private elite schools need to adopt safeguards. We will also launch an effective awareness campaign against drugs. I am ready to provide all possible help to the ANF. The provincial government is committed to this cause and we will jointly work to safeguard our future generations. We need to focus to choke the inflow of drugs and also to break the mafia involved in this illicit business,” he said.