THE Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) has initiated a comprehensive crackdown on the illicit drug market.
The operation will involve tracking drug traffickers who operate remotely by exploiting young individuals to smuggle the consignment into the country.
The ultimate goal is to eliminate this destructive drug trade once and for all.
The DCEA Commissioner General, Aretas Lyimo made this statement to journalists after meeting with 17 institutions working at the Horohoro border station, Mkinga District, in Tanga region.
The Commissioner has identified the existence of influential businessmen who operate behind the scenes and may not be directly involved in drug trafficking, but provide financial support and employment opportunities for young individuals to travel overseas and engage in drug smuggling.
The goal of the investigation and operation, according to Lyimo, is to identify the businessmen and punish them severely in order to put an end to the illegal trade.
Drug dealing is considered an organised crime that gravely affects society by impacting the labour force and the nation’s resources, as explained by the official.
“That is why we have decided to carry out a significant nationwide operation,” the Commissioner General stated.
In addition to the operation, they are also conducting educational activities in different institutions located along the borders to raise public awareness on the identification of drugs and to prevent their illegal trafficking.
The Commissioner General additionally pointed out that they had already agreed that there would be special equipment (scanners) to detect drugs along borders entry/exit points.
According to him, these scanners will be used to scan all vehicles passing through the border stations for drugs’ seizure.
Elaborating, Mr Lyimo noted that in order to deal with drug smuggling by sea, the agency also plans to acquire a boat, saying: “We will also give education in schools and make education on drugs part of the school curriculum.”
He stated that drug smugglers are turning to the borders to illegally transport drugs, since airports are now equipped with advanced technology to detect them. As a result, he added, they are educating all the institutions involved in the border stations.
Commenting, Horohoro Station’s Chief, Deo Warioba, said the training offered by the Authority plays a crucial role in the area Customs Station’s capacity to successfully intercept drug trafficking at the borders.
“As technology advances, new varieties of drugs are found and drug dealers are developing novel techniques to distribute them.
Thus, this education will enable us to recognise those practices and substances,” said Warioba.
They have been taught how to recognise human medicines that contain drugs, he added.
Warioba pledged to offer drug education in the border villages in order to engage the locals in campaigns to eradicate these drugs.
