Publication of the July 2018 Report from the independent Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking.
Friday 27th July 2018 saw the release and publication of the Report from The Commission of Inquiry on Drug Trafficking (link to report at end). This extensive report goes into details of the serious drugs problem plaguing Mauritius. It comes at a time when the present Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth has initiated an all out war on drug trafficking.
The immediate effect of this hot report saw the resignation of two members of parliament from their portfolio responsibilities.
The Commission’s investigations has shown that there could be lawyers having liaisons with criminals in prison which are not necessarily their clients. Therefore suspicions of acting as go-between. On pages 227-228 there are interesting facts about lawyers interaction with condemned criminals in prison.
Recommendations on the utopia for a drug free island is described in page 27. This includes a strong need for a change in standards of practices and protocols.
On page 4 the list of illicit and types of drugs is highlighted for Chapter 4, pages 47-49. The extent of the problem for Mauritius is phenomenal. Just looking at the record seizures on page 50 gives an indication of the ongoing difficulties to stop trafficking.
This extensive report covers just about every aspect of illicit drug trafficking and its circulation on the island. It also makes many recommendations for changes to tighten security and procedures. One urgent recommendation is for the creation of a Drug Enforcement Agency to combine the present separate entities from the police force and customs.
It would be impossible on this blog to discuss every aspect or items of the 260 page report. However, the work of this Commission is unprecedented in the history of this country. Such in-depth research and investigation into the problem and the internal organization is to be commended. It remains to be seen if there will be a significant political will for implementation and change in laws, protocols and structural entities to get at the root of this criminal activity.
Click the cover below to view the report, warning 260 pages in PDF
I think our war on drugs has fizzled a bit, especially with so many states legalizing marijuana. They should take a tip from your country and see exactly what is happening in Amsterdam these days as well!!
There is a general movement for the legalization of marijuana here too but unlikely at this time. The worst here is the latest scourge of synthetic drugs amongst the young. I am still trying to understand how someone would want to consume such poison for the body. I guess that at addiction stage they no longer have any self-esteem.
Without reading through the whole report first, the problem is the same in the UK (and no doubt elsewhere) and even though there are many attempts by authorities here to deal with the situation, it seems a hopeless task.
I have my own ideas on how to deal with those who wish to sell or pass-on illegal-drugs, but I suspect I would make or keep very few friends, so I’ll “pass” on making those suggestions – which would quickly deal with the problem.
Unless the various governments significantly deal with these problems, rather than giving such punative-sentences, then the problems can only get worse and destroy so many more lives in the future.
It’s not just the lucrative financial profits that are largely-part of the cause of this ongoing problem, but also the laxed-attitude of individual-users who for whatever reason, find themselves “taken-in” by others who want to make some finanial-gain at the expense of innocent-people who themselves get “hooked.”
Then of course, a significant part of the UK’s crimewave is subsequently caused by those who need the money to pay for their drug-abuse, so here with a reduction of police-personnel, it is now the attitude that there isn’t sufficient resources to deal with this problem, so offenders (whether distributors or users) get-off of proper-justice, with just a pathetic-sentence – if any at all…!!!
The cycle is getting worse for those reasons and whether it can ever be controlled and rescinded to a low-level problem, is unlikely to happen in my lifetime and likely very much longer.
It is a huge concern here and you rightly mention the intricate problems linked to this. Here we are seeing many cases of domestic violence related to a drug addiction such as the beating up of elderly parents for cash. There are areas where dealers openly sell in the streets and even organise young boys to do the dealing. There is no doubt that it is destroying lives.