By Lamin Njie, editor-in-chief
The nation’s anti-drugs agency seized drugs of various types worth 121 million dalasis in 2019 – where cannabis topped the list but cocaine eating nearly the entire value of all seizures even though it sat second on the list.
Drug Law Enforcement Agency’s 2019 report has been released and The Fatu Network obtained a copy on Tuesday.
In it, the agency seized over two tons of cannabis in 2019 worth 7.9 million dalasis; over 56 kilograms of cocaine was also seized worth 113 million dalasis and it came largely from the seizure of 52 kilograms of the substance from a sugar container imported into the country by Laura’s Food Company.
Elsewhere, over one kilograms of hashish was also seized worth D413,000, even as one kilogram of ketamine was seized. A paltry 11grams of heroine was confiscated.
According to the report, most of the traffickers enter through villages like Kartong, Sibanor, Bullock, Dimbaya, Omorto, Darsilameh, Jalokoto and Giboro. A massive 610 people were arrested of which 67 were non-Gambians. It’s a mixture of those caught trafficking in the drugs and those who were found in possession of drugs.
The head of the agency Bakary Gassama said in the report: “It is my strong conviction that addressing the drug problem is a shared responsibility.
“While we may think that there is no single justification for young people to use drugs, it is important that we, as concerned adults, parents, and policy-makers, pay attention to the reasons they advance for this attitude, however implausible we find them and talk to them about the dangers and life-long devastating effects.”
