Syria Marks International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking

All countries of the world commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26th every year given the importance of disseminating awareness about the danger of drugs on societies and of joining international efforts to confront and prevent the spread of this dangerous phenomenon.

In Syria, the ministries of interior, health, social affairs, education and higher education in addition to people’s organizations and religious institutions are all cooperating to confront drug trafficking and dealing and to enhance awareness about the danger of drug addiction and about the importance of rehabilitating addicts.

In a statement to SANA marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Brigadier Hussein Jum’a, Director General of the Interior Ministry’s Drugs Control Directorate, said that Syria has played an important role in supporting the international community’s efforts to combat all crimes, mainly drug illicit trafficking.

 According to the international community’s assessment, Syria is clean of manufacturing and farming drugs and that Syria has signed all the international agreements on combating the illicit trafficking of drugs and other substances that affect human mental health, Bregadier Jum’a added.

He made it clear that drug trafficking, producing and misusing are among the most serious problems facing modern societies because of drugs’ bad impact on health and society and because of the fact that combating drugs exhausts countries’ financial and human resources which should be dedicated to development projects.

He pointed out that the Syrian Ministry of Interior is greatly interested in the issue of fighting drugs and controlling drug trafficking. It has provided the necessary infrastructure for the drug control bodies in all the Syrian provinces in order to do their missions properly.

He pointed out that many drug dealers and smugglers, including members of terrorist organizations,  have exploited the circumstances that resulted from the terrorist war on Syria to step up drug trafficking and dealing activities. This problem necessitated intensified efforts by the officers and personnel of the drug control directorate to confront this phenomenon, he said, noting that several drug smuggling networks were dismantled and many drug dealers were arrested.

Jum’a clarified that many terrorist groups are working in smuggling and trafficking all kinds of drugs. They promote drugs among youths to affect their mental health and to fund terrorist activities.

Drug trafficking crimes have been a huge obstacle impeding development plans and hindering the reactivation of human capabilities in many countries as they pose a serious threat to the human resources and the stability of societies.

Hamda Mustafa