Govt plans to make drug tests mandatory in schools

Afridi says govt working on legislation to punish possession and distribution of crystal methamphetamine

ISLAMABAD: The government plans to make drug tests mandatory for school staff and students in Islamabad, Minister of State for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi told a Senate panel on Thursday.

In a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control, Afridi asserted that no person responsible for propagating drugs to the youth would be spared even if they are members of parliament. He further claimed that the government is working on legislation to punish the possession and distribution of crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as crystal meth or ice.

Narcotics Control Secretary Amjad Javed Saleemi informed the Senate committee that a record was being maintained of criminal entities involved in the narcotics trade. He added that the system helps track drug peddlers and their facilitators.

The minister added that the ministry had collected data of “drug dealers and money launderers” from over 250 international law enforcement agencies.

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He also claimed that former Interpol president Ronald Robin and the United Arab Emirates authorities were seeking Pakistan’s help on the matter.

At least 2,200 people were arrested for drug possession so far this year, but only Rana Sanaullah was being discussed, Afridi said.

The Senate Standing Committee on Narcotics Control was apprised that Project ‘Amaan Pakistan’ had covered over 250 accredited sources of information across the globe to effectively fight narcotics and money laundering. Highlighting key features of the world’s largest Artificial Intelligence-driven database, Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Afridi informed the panel that different law enforcement agencies across the globe had shown their interest in purchasing the data, including ex secretary-general of Interpol.

He said, “Serious discussion with UAE Interpol is also underway to use our data for identifying some of the criminals that had passed through their immigration process”, he informed the Senate body which met here with Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen in the chair.

Shehryar said the project would fully enable Pakistan to identify the illegally transferred money in the drug trade. “The data is updated in less than 10 minutes while some new features of the project like facial recognition and smart search are underway,” he added. The minister said it was the landmark achievement that had made Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) one of the most effective forces in the region.

Fighting drugs

Regarding arrest and provision of evidence against Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Rana Sanaullah, the minister said that they arrested some 2,200 people on drug possession during the current year but only Sanaullah was being discussed. He added that ANF conducted intelligence based operations and followed lawmakers for three weeks.

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The minister asserted that they had all evidence against him which would be presented in the court and announced that they would continue operation against drug dealers without any discrimination.

Afridi said: “A female assembly member came to me crying and pleaded to eradicate the curse of drugs as it was destroying our generations.” Highlighting the increasing trend of ice-meth drugs in the country, the minister informed the panel that there were penalties on possession of heroin and hashish but nothing was there for methamphetamine known by its street names of crystal-meth and ice-meth. He added that legislation in this regard was underway. People are making trillions of rupees from the sale of the crystal due to lack of legislation.

“Three grams of ice-meth was way more dangerous than 1.5 kilogramme of heroin,” Afridi said and expressed that students of elite schools in the federal capital were excessively using ice-meth therefore they have decided to conduct blood tests of students and staff working in schools. We will also keep an eye on nearby shops, he told the body and added that if a school student was addicted to drugs, the school should be held responsible for it.

“I will take stringent action against drug lords in Islamabad,” the minister said and asserted that federal capital would be made drug-free by 2020.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 4^th, 2019.