Salman Yousafzai
PESHAWAR: Anti-Narcotics Force arranged drugs burning ceremony in Regi Lalma on Monday and burnt 59 tons illicit drugs seized by different anti-narcotics forces during 2017.
Students from different colleges and universities, civil society members, Police officers and ANF officers participated in the ceremony and delivered speeches and views against the menace of drugs.
Provincial Minister for Excise and Taxation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mian Jamshed ud Din Kakakhel was a chief guest at the ceremony.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ANF chief Brigadier Mudasar Saeed presented a year progress of ANF and other law enforcement agencies and said that this year the forces have seized more 80 tons drugs in the province, adding that 168 cases of narcotics were registered with ANF and eight drugs smugglers were sentenced life imprisonment, 165 smugglers were behind the bars and only three people were acquitted, hence the force made 98 percent successful conviction rate.
He added ANF also frozen assets worth of 551.273 million rupees of narcotics smugglers who made these assets with drugs money. “ANF also launched awareness programs across the country to keep away youth from the menace of drugs.”
He said ANF has been able to achieve major breakthroughs in combating the menace of drugs at national, regional and international levels. The growth of poppy in Pakistan has been drastically reduced over the years by ANF with the assistance of other LEAs.
Mr. Saeed said that ANF with the collaboration of provincial government established a hundred beds hospital for the rehabilitation of drugs users. “Drugs users will get free of cost treatment in the rehabilitation center.
He said that ANF is the leading Anti-Narcotics Law Enforcement Agency of Pakistan, which is though small in size and is facing many challenges like lack of resources and manpower, yet it executes the assigned mission with full commitment, dedication, and conviction.
Renowned sportsmen also participated in the ceremony. Chief Guest of the ceremony Mian Jamshed Kakakhel also read an anti-drugs speech from a piece of paper, apparently, he was not prepared to speak written words.
Students presented anti-drugs skits during the ceremony and at the end, ANF chief and Chief Guest distributed shields among the participants. According to the UNODC Annual Survey of Pakistan 2013, an estimation of 6% of Pakistan’s population uses illicit drugs. Cannabis is the most commonly used drug being consumed by almost 4 million people.
It is followed by opioids with a respective consumption of almost 0.86 million persons for Heroin and 0.32 million for Opium. The vast majority of users were men, and among both men and women who reported past year use, education levels were lower than among non-users.”
Pakistan’s youth that comprises 66% of the population is the worst affected of drugs. To commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, a Drug Burning Ceremony by Anti Narcotics Force was held every year in different parts of the country.
It is mentioned that recently new kind of drugs like meth has introduced in KP which is using the vast majority of youth in KP.
