Majaliwa trumps success in drug war in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam. Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa today, Monday 17 said Tanzania has largely fought back drug dealers but warned substance abuse addicts were resorting to prescription drugs to satisfy their needs.

The PM said the war against drug trafficking was around 90 per cent successful since the government declared war on barons who had turned Tanzania a conduit for the illicit trade.

He said there was now need for interventions to curb the emerging trends in substance abuse to compliment the war against drug trafficking. 

Mr Majaliwa was speaking during the official opening of the 28th continental meeting on drug trafficking by Heads of National Drug Law enforcement Agencies Africa (HONLEA) held Dar es Salaam.

“We need to put more efforts to fight these new trends in substance abuse even as we continue to tighten the noose around primary sources of the problem,” he said.

The PM said successes recorded in the war against drugs was also critical to eliminating the vices linked to the trade like trafficking, terrorism, kidnapping, robbery, murder, corruption and illicit financial flows.

“Substance abuse as you know also fuels the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV/Aids and Tuberculosis (TB),” he told the more than 120 delegates from 53 African countries attending the conference.

Mr Majaliwa assured that Tanzania will play its part in making the war a success across the continent.

Tanzania’s commissioner general of the Drugs and Control Enforcement Authority (DCEA) Rogers Siang’a also addressed the meeting, reiterating the need for cooperation among the agencies for sustained efforts to curtail drug trade.

United Nation’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) regional representative for Eastern Africa Dr Amado de Andres said in 2017, over 200 tons of heroin was seized in East African zone.