The Senate Standing Committee on Anti-Narcotics has asked the Islamabad police to furnish a report on the operations conducted against the menace of drugs throughout the year in the federal capital including educational institutions.
A meeting of the committee was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Senator Ejaz Chaudhary, in which Federal Minister for Anti-Narcotics Shah Zain Bugti, Ministry of Anti-Narcotics Secretary Humaira Ahmed, Senator Shafiq Tareen, Senator Naseebullah, ANF DG Major General Aniqur Rehman, and others participated.
During the huddle, Federal Minister for Anti-Narcotics Shah Zain Bugti hinted at using modern technology to prevent drug smuggling from abroad.
Bugti announced the establishment of a modern fusion centre while giving a national-level road map to prevent drug trafficking.
He said that the fusion centre to be established in Pakistan will be more sophisticated as compared to the six fusion centres established by the United States around the world. He said it will help the country get rid of the scourge of drugs.
He said state-of-the-art scanners and machines will be installed at the country's airports and borders to detect drugs and explosives in a modern way.
In the meeting, the chairman of the committee expressed anger at the representatives of the Federal Education Department on the sub-standard briefing on the measures to prevent the use of drugs in educational institutions and issued instructions to submit a report to the committee in the next meeting.
Meanwhile, DIG Operation Shehzad Nadeem Bukhari claimed to make Quaid-e-Azam University completely drug-free and assured that no drug complaint would be received from the university for the next six months.
ANF DG Major General Aniqur Rehman said in a briefing that after receiving a request from the Islamabad police, they have started the screening process at the time of admission to the university.
On this occasion, Minister Shah Zain Bugti also told the committee that synthetic drugs used to be smuggled by Africans are now being smuggled into the country by Pakistanis working abroad, which has made detection very hard.
Despite the lack of resources in the Ministry of Anti-Narcotics, 17 per cent of the drugs seized worldwide during a year were caught by the ANF and other agencies, he said.
The minister and Anti-Narcotics Secretary Humaira Ahmed told the committee that to prevent drug smuggling, it has been decided to equip airports, seaports, and borders with the latest machines.
Bugti while talking to The Express Tribune said at the proposed fusion centre, senior officers from the federal, and provincial ministries, health departments, FIA, ANF, and maritime security agencies will work under one roof to tackle the menace.
“The centre will monitor all issues from policy making to the implementation of measures to prevent drug trafficking and spread.” The federal minister further said that the fusion centre at the federal level will be completed in July and the inauguration will be held by the end of the same month.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 9th, 2023.
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