July 10, 2003	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 9,1424

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ISLAMABAD, July 9: US ambassador Nancy Powell on Wednesday said war on drugs was not over yet with poppy cultivation substantially higher this year making it necessary to be constantly vigilant.

She was speaking at the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) awards distribution ceremony held at a local hotel.

“Illegal drugs are a global menace and the costs of dealing with the damage they cause to the civilised society, in both human and economic terms, are staggering,” Ms Powell said. “Pakistan will face a major challenge this year in stemming the flow of drugs into and through Pakistan. The resources we are providing through the US$73 million border security programme, as well as other efforts, will help you meet this challenge,” Ms Powell said.

She said these resources need to be utilised effectively and the ANF people were required to continue to tap into their own invaluable ingenuity, knowledge and experience.

She said the figures of last year’s seizures made by ANF including 4,368 kilogrammes of heroin, 926 kilograms of opium and a staggering 22,638 kilograms of hashish were indeed impressive.

“In addition, registration of 381 criminal cases against 478 defendants is an achievement that speaks for itself,” Nancy Powell said. However, she said the worrying aspect was the fact the number of drug addicts continued to grow and there was more that need to be done to address the root causes of addiction and to decrease demand as well as to treat those who already had fallen victim to this disease.

Earlier, Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmed, the ANF DG, said the ANF attached great importance to the relations with Narcotics Affairs Section (NAS) and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in the US embassy and other law-enforcement agencies in its fight against drugs.

“The NAS, under its director Ms Brooke Darby, over the last year has played a very positive and constructive role in their dealings with the ANF,” Maj-Gen Nadeem said. The assistance by NAS has added significantly to upgrade the operational response capabilities of the ANF, Maj-Gen Nadeem added.

Gen Nadeem said the NAS-sponsored ANF performance awards were meant for recognition of excellence in narcotics law enforcement.

“Eight types of performance awards are to be given to ANF personnel in the areas of ‘Honour Awards’, ‘Sustained Performance Awards’, ‘Group Performance Awards’, ‘Demand Reduction Awards’, ‘Aviation Award’ and ‘SIC Special Awards’. A special ‘ANLES Award is being introduced this year, which will be formalised next year,” Gen Nadeem said.

Ms Broke Darby, the NAS Director, said ANF contributed substantially in the fight against drugs as heroin seizures were up by 31 per cent from the year 2001.