WINDHOEK – The Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Namibian Police Force has confiscated illicit drugs worth N$9.5 million over the past four months and managed to arrest 423 suspects.
Namibian nationals comprise 313 of those arrested. Latest figures also indicate that cannabis remains the commonest drug transported in large quantities into the country.
Last year in December alone, police confiscated 480 481kg of cannabis worth N$4.8 million.
Other drugs confiscated during this period were mandrax, cocaine powder and crack cocaine.
In addition, the police also confiscated 61 cycotec tablets, which is popularly known as the ‘abortion pill’.
According to a latest drug bust statement issued by Nampol spokesperson, Deputy Commissioner Edwin Kanguatjivi, police seized N$1.8 million worth of drugs from 1 to 31 January 2019.
Of the 68 suspects arrested, 57 men and six females are Namibians. While the other suspects are four Angolans and one Zambian national.
“You can imagine drugs that went undetected. There are more drugs (on the streets) than what we confiscated,” Kanguatjivi said.
He stated that the perception was that Namibia was a transit country but now it has become a ‘user nation’. “We are no longer a transit country, we are consumers,” he said.
Kanguatjivi cautioned that drugs are destructive and neighbours of drug dealers should alert the police.
He also warned fellow police officers, who are engaged in drug dealing, that once caught, they will lose their jobs as there is no place for rogues in the Namibian Police Force.