According to United
Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, the dynamics of illicit drug
trafficking have shifted to the extent that West Africa is no longer just a transit
point but a growing destination with more than a million users of hard drugs.
In fact, the U.N Security Council recently called for greater regional
cooperation against traffickers after observing that nothing less than $1.2
billion worth of cocaine passes through the region’s porous borders each year.
For
the past five years, 65% of West African drug barons arrested in Europe were
Nigerians. The most populous black nation of the world has been enmeshed in
illegal drug trafficking since the1980s. Despite stringent efforts by
successive governments in the country to curb the menace, drug barons have
continued to grow in leaps and bounds. The burgeoning narcotics trade has
remained unloaded. Even after the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency, (NDLEA)
was established in 1990 to clamp down on them, the agency’s effort of fighting
the scourge is not enough to discourage the dealers.
As
active and as vigilant the drug enforcement agency is in the country today,
drug traffickers seem not to be sleeping in finding ways of beating the eagle
eyes of the NDLEA. Those who know informed us that these days, Nigerian drug
barons have concocted new methods to transport cocaine and heroine to various
destinations.
It
was learnt that the traffickers now convert cocaine and heroin into liquid.
Sources within NDLEA say some of the seized drugs were dissolved in water and
absorbed into towels and a T-shirt. Others were industrially packed in tin
foods, body cream pack and a host of other industrial products that are sealed to
represent a particular brand.
No comments:
Post a Comment