THE authorities seem to have their hands full these days, judging by the amount of drugs worth hundreds of millions of ringgit that were being seized in the past few weeks.
And judging by the number of drug raids conducted recently, it is very disturbing, given the potential of these drugs getting to the Malaysian market and destroying the lives of Malaysians.
In January 2021, for instance, Johor police seized drugs worth RM201 mil in three raids conducted in the span of two days. In these raids, police found 3.2 tonnes of Ecstasy powder, 26.1 kg of liquid Ecstasy and 117 kg of Erimin-5 powder. It is estimated that these could have been used by 11 million drug addicts.
More recently, in what has been regarded as the biggest ever drug haul in the country’s history, the Customs Department has previously seized 94.8 million Captagon pills worth a whopping RM5.2 bil. The Captagon drug is commonly linked to terrorists in the Middle East.
The drugs were seized from containers at Port Klang on March 15, with initial investigations revealing that the containers were meant to be shipped to an East Asian country.
Drug abuse has long been a serious public health problem in the country, and statistics from the country’s National Anti-Drug Agency further underscores this matter.
From January to June 2020, the Agency recorded 95,505 drug and substance abusers. Out of that number, 91,466 (95.8%) are male, while 4,039 (4.2%) are female.
Of this, 61,851 or 64.8% were youths aged between 19 and 39, 32,310 were adults aged 40 and above, and 1,251 were teenagers aged between 13 and 18.
Needless to say, if these drugs ever find their way to Malaysian markets, the results would certainly be catastrophic.
Therefore, all relevant law enforcement and related agencies should work together and exchange information on drug trafficking, alongside international cooperation on top of strong national policies on prohibition and enforcement.
The authorities have no doubt done an excellent job so far, but it could be better. We need to find some light at the end of the tunnel to rid our society of this great evil for the sake of the country and our future generations. – April 16, 2021
Photo caption: New Straits Times
