Over 370 drug suspects arrested
A TOTAL of 377 suspects have been arrested by law enforcement agents and brought to court in the past five months or allegedly involving themselves in drug trafficking.
This was revealed in Dar es Salaam yesterday by the Commanding Officer of Anti-Drug Unit (ADU), Assistant Commissioner of Police, Amon Kakwale while briefing journalists on the operation conducted in Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar.
He said that from July to November this year, 369 cases were brought to court, with 377 suspects convicted. A total of 170 suspects were imprisoned for illicit drug-related offences while 207 paid fines before being released.
“Police conducted operations, patrols, and searches in various regions across the country and were successful in apprehending the illicit drug suspects,” he said.
ACP Kakwale stated that during the operations, they confiscated eight vehicles, nine motorcycles, two boats, and a house that was nationalised.
Furthermore, he stated that the police department continues to educate individuals about the repercussions of drug abuse in various settings, including houses of worship, marketplaces, bus terminals, entertainment areas, and other social gatherings.
Simultaneously, the Unit continues to host workshops in collaboration with stakeholders and international organisations to identify, discuss, and plan measures to combat illicit drug trafficking in the country.
“Police are urging the public not to tolerate anyone involved in the illicit drug trade and are requesting the public to offer information on a few people involved in such malpractice so that action can be taken against them,” said ACP Kakwale.
He added, “Vehicle owners must control their vehicles at all times to minimise losses if they are found to be utilised in illicit drug trafficking activities.”
Finally, ACP Kakwale commended the media for continuing to educate the public about the dangers of narcotics and how they damage the national workforce.
Tanzania, through its security organs has in recent years intensified war against narcotics, efforts that have seen suspects being apprehended before being taken to court to answer charges.
For instance, since its establishment in 2017, Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA) in collaboration with other security organs managed to arrest a total of 45,784 suspects, 3,356,563 kilogrammes of illicit drugs as well as 628.75 acres of cannabis farms.
Out of the total suspects, 2,231 were found with heroin, 502 cocaine, 37,743 cannabis, and the remaining 5,308 were possessing khat.
The authority netted 1125.41 kilogrammes of heroin, cocaine (26.67kgs), cannabis (199,740kg), khat (97,640 kgs), precursor chemicals 57,600 kgs as well as 431kg of methamphetamine, a total of 434,684 kilograms of Bhang and 170,760 kilograms of khat were netted between 2011 and September 2021.
