Yemen destroys drugs and hashish

 The prosecutor’s office in Hadhramawt – eastern province of Yemen - destroyed on Saturday large quantities of drugs which were seized over ayear ago.

 The stash of narcotics --  74kg of hashish, 180,000 Captagon tablets and 180 needles, 31 boxes of liquor and 8 gallons of local wine -- amounted to an estimated YR 1, 77 million. Abdullah al-Kumin, Hadhramawt’s Prosecutor for the Criminal Court, Brigadier Fahmi Hajj al-Sa’eeri, General Manager of the province security and Colonel Samir Youssef Bahmid, the Director of the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hadhramawt were present when the drugs were disposed.

Al-Sa’eeri praised the efforts of the Drug Enforcement Administration, noting that because of the department’s careful monitoring, the local authorities were reigning down on the spread of such deadly toxins. He noted that those who sought to “drag and sabotage youngsters” by dragging them to their demise were nothing but criminals.

 He called on the DEA to intensify its efforts and further its work by tracking down smugglers and bringing them to justice, where the law will ensure they receive sentences fitting their crimes. Al-Sa’eeri also hailed citizens for their close collaboration with the authorities, adding that only through such a tight partnership would Yemen rid itself of such a plague.

The Saba News Agency said that about 1,000 people – according to Yemen national report - - had been involved in drug crimes over the  past eight years. On a positive note, 800 people involved in drug trafficking and smuggling were arrested since 2008 --  amongst whom 150 foreigners, mainly from Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.


Despite the government’s best efforts drug smuggling is on the rise. In 2004, drug-related cases amounted to only 42, but soared to 113 in 2008. Seventy-five people -of which three foreigners- were suspected of involvement in drug smuggling or dealing in 2004, according to surveys by the General Administration to Combat Drugs, Four years later, up to 252 people were suspected of involvement, among them 72 foreigners.


Drug-related cases have risen by up to 30 percent over the past four years, and  the amount of drugs rose even much more dramatically. Whereas Yemeni Security Forces seized one million pills between 2006 and 2007, they seized 13.5 million in 2008.    

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