Drugs smuggling cases declining, says official

Drug traffickers devise new and strange ways to smuggle narcotics, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) director Colonel Ibrahim Issa al-Buainain has said. We once arrested an Asian man who had concealed drugs inside dates. Some smugglers put drugs in honey jars or hide it in the collar of their clothes. They also put them in womens clothes. However, the most notorious way of smuggling the contraband is swallowing drugs packed as capsules. Sometimes, they burst open in the smugglers stomach, leading to the carriers death. Such an incident happened two months ago in a Gulf state, al-Buainain said in an interview to Arabic daily Arrayah. Even though there are a few addicts in the country, the situation in Qatar is very different from other countries, the DEA director said. Addicts around the world can be seen roaming the streets and sometimes occupying the squares and public places. The number of addicts in Qatar is limited and they are unnoticeable. The Qatari society is a conservative one that takes care of the addict. The government and its various institutions shoulder the responsibility of treating them, al-Buainain noted. Drugs are substances that deprive the user of his reasoning capacity. They can be classified into two categories: one that produces increased activity and the other that produce decreased activity, al-Buainain said. The risk lies in the fact that some addicts mix two or more types of drugs, which may result in death. For example, some addicts mix heroin and Tramadol to become hyper active. Tramadol is an analgesic used to treat acute and chronic pains. But, it is abused by some people. So, in 1999 the Pharmacy and Drug Control Department included it in the second list annexed to Law No19 for 1993 related to the circulation of substances that affect mind. It cannot be issued by a pharmacy without a prescription, he added. The anti-drug squad faces many risks. Many chases occur while trying to arrest criminals. Sometimes, we suffer casualties. The DEA recently honoured officers who died in action. When we compare 2011 and 2010, we notice a decline in the number of confiscations made. Also, there is a decline in the number of the traffickers arrested. All this is the direct result of our efforts to foil plans to smuggle drugs and prevent smugglers from reaching the market. he added.

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Drugs smuggling cases declining, says official