Pot times July 16, 2005
300 Tanzanian Drug Traffickers Held In Foreign Jails
URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n1121/a05.htmlNewshawk: Herb
Pubdate: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 300 TANZANIAN DRUG TRAFFICKERS HELD IN FOREIGN JAILS
Source: East African, The (Kenya)
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Some 330 Tanzanians are languishing in various jails worldwide for drug
trafficking as the country appears unable to stem drug-related offences.
Over the past two years, at least 60 Tanzanians were arrested in foreign
countries - including neighbouring Kenya and Uganda - for handling narcotic
substances, with marijuana topping the list of most peddled drugs.
Tanzania is the second largest marijuana producer in Africa, after South Africa.
National Commission for Control of Illicit Drugs and Narcotics head Christopher
Shekiondo said efforts to clamp down on the production, trafficking and
consumption of marijuana had failed to contain the outlawed trade.
Mr Shekiondo's frustration is echoed in a recent UN report showing that two per
cent of all confiscated marijuana in the world in 2002 was found in Tanzania.
The country ranked fourth worldwide. Last year, over 281.5 hectares of
cannabis was destroyed in the fields, while between 1997 and last year, over two
million kilogrammes of bhang were confiscated and 37,264 suspected peddlers
arrested. Mr Babu.
While the UN statistics indicate some major accomplishments in fighting the
problem - with the confiscation of 90.4 tonnes of dried marijuana in 2002 - the
report says the war against narcotics is far from being won.
Implying that Tanzania was a yardstick for the continent's war on drugs, the
report says that Africa's share of global seizures increased from 10 per cent to
32 per cent, while the share of the Americas decreased from 80 per cent to 61
per cent. It appears there has been a global upsurge in demand for
cannabis and a corresponding increase in supply, mainly from southern Africa -
with Tanzania, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa being the region's
biggest producers.
Police in Arusha, Tanga and Kilimanjaro - where most of the marijuana
plantations are found - admit that marijuana smugglers evade arrest by
transporting the narcotic using coffins and donkeys to get through roadblocks.
Police say the growers have retreated to remote areas in Mount Meru, Kilimanjaro
and Usambara where the roads are impassable, making it difficult to mount an
effective campaign. A senior policeman in Arusha said some corrupt
government officials were also working with drug barons.
They bribe junior police officers to transport marijuana in public service vans,
with public servants accepting the risk as a way of supplementing their meagre
salaries. Such officers earn a salary of $100 per month.
Arusha Regional Police Commander James Kombe says statistics showed that over 60
per cent of the annual production of marijuana finds its way across the borders
to the South African market. Some of it ends up in Europe and America, he
added.
The consumption of marijuana is also taking it toll on the population.
Arusha Regional Commissioner Mohamed Babu says the country is fast joining the
ranks of regions with large numbers of drug addicts.
Statistics at Arusha's Mount Meru Hospital show that from January to June, 78
people have been treated for drug addiction.
The situation is the same in Tanga, where dozens of youths are admitted at the
main Bombo Hospital for drug-related illnesses. "Our sole mental
asylum is already crowded with people who have almost become lunatics because of
hemp," a Mount Meru hospital nurse told The EastAfrican last week.
Mr Kombe has vowed to eliminate marijuana plantations. His force has been
using helicopters to patrol the areas.
"We will keep up the pressure until we eradicate all the fields here.
We are keeping up our vigilance," he said.
UN data shows that Tanzania is fast becoming known for industrial drugs.
