KARACHI: A top government official pledged on Monday that the country would take all-out measures against the illicit trade of narcotics from neighbouring Afghanistan.

“Pakistan continues to play a crucial role as the first line of defence for the rest of the world against the massive outflow of opiates, synthetic drugs, and new psychotropic substances from Afghanistan,” Narcotics Control Secretary Humaira Ahmed told participants of an event organised by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) country office in Pakistan (COPAK) here.

The event marked the commencement of eight-week of bulk-carrier search and visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) training courses. These training and mentoring sessions are being conducted under the framework of UNODC’s project — ‘Improved National Response against Drugs and Contraband Trafficking in the Maritime Domain’ – funded by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Pakistan (INL-P).

Ms Ahmed highlighted that Pakistan was long exposed to the negative and wide-ranging consequences of the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances from Afghanistan.

“Given the uncertain political situation in Afghanistan, we strongly feel that there is a need to continue capacity development initiatives by UNODC and the INL in the future,” she said.

She thanked UNODC and the INL for their vision and continuing capacity development.

She stressed the importance of improving national countermeasures, as envisioned in the country’s Anti-Narcotics Policy 2019.

Welcoming the participants, Dr Jeremy Milsom, UNODC COPAK Representative, apprised the forum that the project aimed to address Pakistan’s priority capacity-building needs in the maritime domain. “UNODC COPAK adopts a holistic approach to support the Government of Pakistan in addressing various drugs and crime challenges, encompassing both domestic and transnational issues,” he said.

In his remarks, Liam O’Flanagan, Deputy Consul General of the US in Karachi, thanked Pakistan for making concerted counter-narcotics efforts, as one of the main transit countries neighbouring Afghanistan.

He acknowledged the role played by the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and other Pakistani border law enforcement agencies and said: “There is a need to further enhance Pakistan’s technical capacity – to proactively detect, deter and disrupt drug trafficking”.

The ceremony was also attended by ANF director general Major General Aneeq Malik, Pakistan Coast Guards director general Brigadier Ghulam Abbas, senior customs officials and others.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2023