Drug trafficking worries Research Institute

THE new drug trafficking trend in Zambia calls for adequate investment on Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) and ensuring that modern technologies are employed to curb the scourge, the Continental Leadership Research Institute (CLRI) has said.

Recently, the Drug enforcement commission (DEC) revealed that a drug trafficking network was clamped down in Lusaka leading to the arrest of a Zambian and the seizure of 40 kg of amphetamine which was the biggest in the history of the Commission, indicating that there was a new trafficking trend happening in the country.

And speaking with The Scoop, CLRI Executive Director Paul Hakoola commended the DEC for clamping such a big consignment of drugs but said more needed to be done in terms of screening and investigations.

Mr. Hakoola said that drug use distorted social order in the country hence the need to ensure that all illicit drugs on the market were removed.

“Drug use distorts social order in the country as you know that people who take drugs are a danger to society. The rise of junkies in the country is also a source of worry as it also has a negative impact on the country’s human resource capital. Our call is that we ensure that all illicit avenues are detected by increasing screening and ensuring new technologies are adopted in this fight,” Mr. Hakoola said.

He said that Zambia needed to emulate other advanced countries in the way they are intercepting drugs in a bid to create a more favourable environment.

He noted the need to build capacity for Law Enforcement Agencies and ensure that the country was technologically advanced while ensuring that there were intensive investigations.

He said that Zambia needed to move along the global trends on curtailing all forms of suspected drug trafficking transportation.

He said that the law enforcement agencies should also strengthen their collaborations and not work in isolation with the view to attain the desired results. 

He added that continuous efforts to develop capacity to collect data on drugs and crime will curtail all forms of illicit drug transportation.