AFRICANEWS

Zambia

Authorities crack down on drug trafficking

Drug abuse

In past years, Zambia had earned itself a reputation for being a major drug trafficker and user. But thanks to the vigilant efforts of Zambia's Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC), that reputation is slowly fading.

"For the last decade now, I have been privileged to have a chance to visit other parts of the world and as a traveler, I can assure you that I have never liked one aspect of my trips: border searches," says the Assistant Commissioner of the Zambian Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC).

"Why me?" Phelisters Mwansa narrates. "Do I look like a drug trafficker? No, my passport gives me away. It says Zambian. 'Ah, ah,' you can hear a customs officer at Heathrow airport exclaim with malicious glee.

"'Please step aside,' one of them told my travelling colleague and I, on our way back from the United States," said Mwansa, who is director of DEC's Drug Masterplan Implementation Project.

Mwansa's ordeal is one that many Zambians have faced because of the country's reputation for drug trafficking. At the height of the scourge, Zambians were subjected to stringent searches at many entry ports, as the country had become notorious for drug trafficking.

Whereas in 1989 it could be safely said that Zambia was a mere transit point for illicit drugs destined for Europe, the Americas, and Southern Africa, experience has shown that the country later assumed the status of transit, consumer, and distributor of drugs to the same destinations.

DEC authorities are attempting to fight back. Statistics show an increase in the number of persons arrested for drug trafficking. In 2000, the DEC arrested 2,362 persons as compared to 1,867 in 1999. In the first four months of 2001 alone, 1,003 people were incarcerated for drug trafficking. Most of those apprehended were Zambian. For instance, according to the 1999 DEC Annual Report, 1,743 Zambians - 248 of who were women - were arrested for trafficking in various drugs.

Landlocked by eight countries, Zambia's geographical centrality does not help the situation, as drug traffickers take advantage of easy access to many world markets of illicit drugs.

The control and regulation of the use of dangerous drugs in Zambia can be traced back to 1923 when the British colonial government enacted what was called the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Regulation Ordinance. The piece of legislation was followed up by a number of other statutes and statutory instruments.

The Dangerous Drugs Act of 1967 was the first piece of legislation in this area after the country's independence in 1964. This law was passed under the portfolio of the Ministry of Health. Four years after the legislation's enactment, it became apparent that the law inadequately addressed the problem of drug trafficking.

The 1980s saw an unprecedented upsurge in drug-related cases, particularly trafficking in methaqualone - commonly known as mandrax - as mostly West African and Asian criminals swarmed the country. The subsequent involvement of prominent Zambians in the crime inevitably gave rise to a public outcry.

Recommendations and debates among legislators followed, culminating in the appointment of the country's most famous illicit drugs trade inquiry, the Chaila Tribunal. Supreme Court Justice Mathew Chaila headed the 1985 tribunal, set up to probe people alleged to be involved in drug trafficking.

The order by then-President Dr Kenneth Kaunda to arrest 68 suspects involved in drug trafficking and money laundering was a clear testimony of the government's determination to ''nip the scourge in its bud.'' However, Zambians continued to reap enormous profits from the illicit trade because of the absence of a specialised government office and legislation to stop the scourge.

The Chaila Tribunal found enormous evidence of money laundering and illegal currency exchanges. Some detainees paid fines under the now defunct Special Investigations Team on Economy and Trade (SITET) because there was no law to deal with cases of mandrax and money laundering in the courts.

This inadequacy of the law, compounded by an increasing drug addiction among many young people in particular, pushed the government to establish the DEC, a specialised anti drug trafficking wing formed to investigate all drug and drug related offences, and prosecute and suspend offenders, as well as educate the public on the dangers of drug abuse.

The government, through the DEC, has managed to significantly address the problem of drug trafficking through drug supply and demand reduction strategies. The former strategy entails interdiction efforts, while the latter involves preventive education, counseling, and rehabilitation interventions.

Once considered a major transit for illegal drugs, Zambia has significantly reduced the rate of drug trafficking in the country, said DEC spokesman Nason Banda.

"Going by our performance so far, we can safely say the measures put in place by the DEC have been successful. Between January and April, 2001, for instance, we arrested 1,003 persons for drug trafficking in narcotic drugs worth K8.66 billion," (about US$ 24 million)," said Banda.

"A seizure of this magnitude in four months, matched with the number of arrests, goes to show the results of focused and articulate interdiction strategies," he explained. "On the drug demand reduction side, our educational campaigns in the last three years have greatly been enhanced under our own Drug Master Plan Implementation Project (DMPIP)."

According to the January issue of Spotlight, a publication of the DEC's Drug Masterplan Implementation Project, cannabis is prevalent and widely abused in Zambia. The DEC findings show that, although cannabis' traditional medicinal use is minimal, the cultural setting has a lot to do with its abuse. It has also become a major economic activity for the unemployed.

A study on the causal factors of cannabis abuse revealed that in relation to medicinal use, 11 percent of the respondents in Choma, and six percent in Mkushi districts (Southern and Central provinces) respectively, indicated that they used cannabis to treat ear infections, wean infants from breast feeding, and exorcising ghosts from haunted homes. According to the study, the traditional medicinal theory has, in fact, contributed to rampant cultivation of this illegal crop among subsistence farmers.

"As the Drug Enforcement Commission, we are fighting against all illicit drugs that are listed in Chapter 96 of the Laws of Zambia," said Banda. "As can be observed from our arrests that we always present to the nation through the media, it's clear that drug trafficking is not a preserve for a particular class of people."

Zambia has ratified all the UN international conventions dealing with illicit drug control and at the regional level, the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Protocol on the Control of Illicit Drugs.

The UN World Report on Drug Trafficking and experiences by other countries portray Zambia as having a problem that can be significantly controlled with enhanced resources and goodwill from the public.

"We have come a long way," said Banda. "At some point, we had the luxury of being called a transit country for illicit drugs, then the nightmare of drug addiction dawned among our youths."

Banda is, however, confident Zambia will soon have a clean record as the number of Zambians arrested abroad has been reducing. "Our record is generally getting cleaner. The stigma is slowly dying."

| CONTENTS | AFRICANEWS HOMEPAGE |

AFRICANEWS - Koinonia Media Centre, P.O. Box 21255, Nairobi, Kenya
tel: +254.2.576175 (voice) Fax:- +254.2.577892 (fax-modem)
AFRICANEWS on line is by Koinonia Media Centre