AAGM: More Than 1,000 Arrests Made Over Drug Trafficking Last Year.

(From Ghanaian Chronicle: AAGM)

Byline: Arahaeal O. Amakye

Analysis of the Narcotic Control Board indicates that the number of people arrested for drug trafficking has considerably increased from 982 as at the year 2000 to 1056 in the year 2001, while about 1182 patients have been admitted at the Accra, Pantang, and Ankaful Psychriatic hospitals, all told, for the abuse of drugs.

Mr. S. Addo, the Narcotic Officer of the board, intimated to the Chronicle in an exclusive interview yesterday that convicts are normally arrested for cannabis ( wee), since it is also the most abused drugs by addicts, particularly the youth.

He noted that drug trafficking threatens everything that is decent in the country, adding that thus justice, economic, social and cultural systems are being perverted and destroyed by the few greedy people and their agents.

Asked how they go about their arrest, he told Chronicle that they organise a raid exercise to arrest people engaged in drug trafficking when they gather intelligence from people who are into the drug trafficking business or arrest people on tip-off from people, adding that they do profiling of travellers to detect in them.

In order to minimise the abuse of drugs, Mr. Addo said the board has a demand reduction unit which visits schools, institutions, and churches to sensitise and educate students on the effects of drugs and how to prevent it.