23 March 2008
editorial
The war against trafficking and use of banned narcotic drugs has been going on in the western world for more than two generations, but with apparently relatively little effect considering that the criminals who indulge in this abhorrent business are now spreading their tentacles across the Atlantic and Pacific seas to our very doorsteps.
While the US government is at the forefront of combatting the drug trade that is thriving in Latin and Central America, pumping millions of dollars and in some cases deploying diverse human resources to assist several countries in that part of the world to counter the unrepentant drug barons, we still have people who see no point in acknowledging that drugs kill.
The Americans' commitment, nonetheless, is such that in 1989 they invaded Panama and captured that country's leader, Manuel Antonio Noriega, who had been their former ally. He was first detained as a prisoner of war before finally being arraigned and convicted of cocaine trafficking, racketeering and money laundering by a Miami, Florida court.
It is instructive that the crimes for which Noriega is still serving a prison sentence have always formed part and parcel of the generally illegal activities unique to drug dealers. They will either be involved in money laundering activities, human trafficking or something as debasing as promoting prostitution. We are seeing that pattern being replicated in Uganda.
But unfortunately, despite the US government's efforts to help friendly governments join in combatting this cancer, Uganda's security services do not seem to have taken the threats posed by these criminals that seriously.
For instance, the Narcotics Department of the Uganda Police Force is hopelessly under-resourced in terms of financing, equipment and manpower. As a consequence, they can hardly match the sophistication with which dealers in narcotics carry on their reprehensible business.
The police say they have now set up a Crime Intelligence Unit which will hopefully address this problem. But we can only wait to see the results before taking them at their word. In the meantime, the number of Ugandans and foreign nationals travelling from here, who are getting arrested at European airports with large quantities of either cocaine or heroin, is rising.
Uganda cannot afford the risk of being blacklisted by the world community as a place where the authorities do not take drug trafficking seriously.
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