THE United Nations Office on Drugs and crime (UNODC) has hailed Tanzania for the achievements it has made on the fight against drug abuse in the past three years.
So far, Tanzania has managed to reduce drug abuse and trafficking cases by 90 per cent with efforts still being mounted to completely eliminate the illegal business in the country.
The Acting Commissioner General of Drugs Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), Mr James Kaji said on Thursday in Dar es Salaam that the country has been considered as a role model in Africa and some parts of Europe.
“The UNODC Executive Director, Ms Ghada Wally, made the comments recently during the 63rd session of the Communion on Narcotic Drugs (NDC) held in Vienna, Austria, from 2nd to 6th March this year,” he said.
According to him, some countries including Norway, Nigeria, Uganda, Mozambique, and Ghana have asked to learn from Tanzania as a model on the fight.
Mr Kaji was of a view that the achievement were facilitated by the enforcement of the Drugs Control and Enforcement Act of 2015 and amended in 2017 for Mainland Tanzania, and Zanzibar amended in 2019.
Also, Tanzania has enhanced cooperation with other countries to reduce drug trafficking through the country’s entry points including Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA).
The DCEA boss explained that Tanzanians engaging in the trade were arrested abroad likewise locally, hence forcing them to ditch it especially across the borders.
Meanwhile, the DCEA has refuted stories that were published recently by two local newspapers that Tanzania is the East Africa’s hub for drugs trafficking.
Mr Kaji said that with the achievements that the county has recorded, there was no way that it could turn to be a center for illicit at a time when authorities have strengthened security at all border posts.
“The same applies to all parts of the country, so the stories that were published were false and should be ignored. It was shocking to read such fake news from the local media,” he pointed out.
Statistics issued by DCEA recently showed that 395 Tanzanians have been jailed abroad over their involvement in the illegal trade, besides 85 on death row in China after being sentenced.
Expounding, Mr Kaji noted that 265 Tanzanians are also in the East Asian nation’s jails and 130 imprisoned in Hong Kong.
