Gambia : Illegal Drugs Burned

Mar 21,2007 00:00 by tijan

The Secretary of State for the Interior Ousman Sonko, on Wednesday presided over the burning of large quantities of drugs at sights in Banjul, Kanifing Municipality and Brikama. The drugs were confiscated quantities of cocaine and cannabis sativa. Though the country is being rapidly overtaken by Guinea Bissau as major transit point of the drug trade in sub-region, drug abuse in the Gambia continue to pose grave social and economic problems to the country. Five years ago the authorities stiffen legal penalties severely but this has not helped reduce the problems. Many members of the security forces themselves, including the police and the army, are known to be regular marijuana smokers.