Zanzibar govt intensifies war on drugs, suspects arrested

THE Commissioner General (CG) of Zanzibar Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority (ZDCEA) Col Buruhani Zuberi Nassoro has said the government remains committed in tackling drugs business in the archipelago.

The commissioner announced the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker Othman Akida Juma alias ‘Ocha’ aged 32 with 2,401 pellets of illicit drugs last Tuesday.

Updating journalists about the war on drugs, the commissioner said the suspect who was arrested in Nungwi tourists’ area with the pallets of heroin is in custody.

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He also said that his office is hunting for a person who abandoned a bag containing 4,000 pellets of suspected cannabis (marijuana). “We ask for public support in this war,” he called on.

Col Nassoro said the nation’s crusade against illicit drugs has been gaining momentum since March this year, as he mentioned that the efforts have resulted in 215 cases related to drug use, and trafficking being filed in courts. Out of the filed cases, he said a total of 72 are heroin related, two cases of cocaine, and 141 cases of cannabis.

He explained that 21 cases are still under investigation, six forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), 31 at the Chief Government Chemist, seven still under police custody, and 129 in courts for hearing, while 21 have been dismissed by the court.

He said sluggishness and hesitation to report drugs were some of the challenges that delays in achieving goals to control drugs trafficking and that all people must act against the illicit drugs in the support of the existing political will.

President Hussein Mwinyi promised to transform the Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority into a special squad capable of arresting, investigating and prosecuting drug cases.

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