Action against drug mafia
The menace of narcotics has long been persisting in Pakistan, including Sindh province. Taking notice of the recent rise in the activities of the drug smugglers, traffickers and peddlers in Sindh, the chief minister has ordered a crackdown on the drug mafia in the province, telling officials to deal with these criminal elements ruthlessly and eliminate the nuisance once and for all.
No time limit has been set for the drive, thus keeping it open-ended. In the near-past, more than 250 cases have been registered against the drug mafia in the province, with Karachi topping the list, followed by Sukkur, Larkana, Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, and Shaheed Benazirabad. During the drive, drug smugglers, major dealers, traffickers and peddlers would be targeted with no mercy shown to them considering the fact that they are posing grave health risks to young and old alike. They are destroying particularly the young generation.
Drug traders monetise their dirty merchandise into wealth, for which smart economists have coined the terminology ‘monetising assets’. They say selling assets and goods is looked down upon, so the act of selling things, whether they are state assets, family silver or drugs, should be known as an act of monetising, as it makes the activity sound highly respectable. The government in a neighbouring country has planned large-scale monetisation of state assets. The decision is, however, encountering stiff resistance from the opposition and the common people. Enough of digression.
The Sindh government, meanwhile, has taken serious notice of the fast-spreading drug addiction in several places in the province. This has naturally resulted because drug traders have widened the net of their nefarious activities. The government has also decided to set up a 200-bed rehabilitation centre, to be built by the government and run by private experts, in Qambar-Shahdadkot. We hope the anti-drug campaign will give the desired results. What is surprising is that the drug trade has continued to flourish despite many crackdowns in the past.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2021.
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