Qatar marks International Day Against Drug Abuse

Maj Gen al-Khulaifi being briefed on some of exhibited items yesterday.

The Public Customs Department (PCD) has made more than 3,500 seizures of different types of illicit narcotics smuggled  through the various ports of the country, the department’s director general said yesterday.

The PCD director general Ahmed bin Ali al-Muhannadi said Qatar registers such seizures on almost daily basis. He said that the recorded number in the first half of this year clearly indicates that the seizures are on the rise.

He explained that the largest number of seizures were recorded at the airport. Though the number of the seizures of narcotics smuggled by sea is limited, the amount of drugs captured at one time is usually very big.

To mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which falls on June 26, the director general of Public Security, Staff Major General Saad bin Jassim al-Khulaifi, inaugurated yesterday a security exhibition at the Landmark Mall, as part of the Ministry of Interior’s efforts to combat such harmful phenomenon.

Maj Gen al-Khulaifi, who is also the chairman of the Permanent Committee for Drugs and Alcohol Affairs (PCDAA), pointed out that Qatar is strongly and actively supporting all regional and international efforts to combat illicit drug crimes. It also believes in the importance of international co-operation in the field.

Accordingly, Qatar has adopted a comprehensive and balanced approach that complies with the principles and stipulations of the international treaties concerned with combating drugs.

It is also keen on information exchange and following up the related developments with other countries and interested international organisations.  

The senior official said that the concerned entities in the country are currently working on the implementing the second phase of the national strategy for combating drugs in Qatar 2010-2015, with wide participation of the public and private sectors and the civil society organisations.

These are taking part in both the strategy programmes and the process of implementation.