Drugs War in Yemen By: Investigative Journalism Department

SANA'A, March, 30 (Saba)-Drug business and addiction are categorized
the greatest crimes in the world. They are called "Weapons of Mass
Destruction". Drugs are dangers because they cross borders.

Yemen, like any other country, is not away of drugs gangs. But what
is fearful is that state statistics affirm growing levels of the
drugs' crimes, some even consider them" the mother of crimes". One
of the officials described drugs crimes as "a war launched against
Yemen".

State authorities have been able to seize millions of drug tablets
and tons of Hashish categorized as different forms of drugs. Drugs
gangs still consider Yemen s transit area to other countries but not
a suitable center for drug promotion.

However, there are Yemenis who are arrested on charges of drugs
addiction. The phenomenon of what is called "addicted to pills" has
increased recently. These addicted people are youth who are using
medicines categorized as "psychotropic substances" and Yemeni law
defines them as drugs. What is important is that Yemen has not, yet,
a center for curing addicts.


Drugs Mafia

In a biggest coordinated operation between Yemeni and Saudi
security authorities, drugs police have succeeded on controlling
banned shipment weighing 1200 kilo grams of drug tablets arrived in
Hadramout and transported to a farm in Dawa'an Valley.

The police started chasing the gang after they found important lines
in the issue via monitoring phones of implicated people inside and
outside Yemen. There were two Pakistanis, were tracking by the
authorities when they arrived the country. These two Pakistanis
received great truck and headed towards the farm and then towards
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The police had already known the whereabouts of the drugs. They were
in the two sides of the truck. The truck has crossed 50 chick points
without inspection till it entered the Saudi Kingdom where it was
seized. A great drugs network from the two countries has been also
arrested.

In another operation, in one of Sana'a streets, a shipment of drugs
was supposed to be exchanged between two persons. The two persons do
not know each other. So one of drugs fighting police has disguised
as one part of the two persons and introduced himself. Then the
police has made confirmed of the operation and arrested this person
with great quantity of drugs.

Strange means for transporting drugs

Drugs gangs do their outmost for trying the best ways for
transferring drugs shipments. They use strange means no one thinks
about. Security police has been able to arrest a gang tried to bring
great quantities of drugs inside heaters transported by air from
Syria.

The gang sent a person from Syria to Yemen to receive the shipment
and because he was not a merchant, he borrowed a tax card from a
Yemeni for small sum of money. Security men have noticed that some
heaters are heavier than the others. They opened some of them by
welding machine to find drugs inside the heaters. Another operation
was also discovered by the same way. Five million tablets have been
seized.

In another operation, big quantity of drugs, estimated at 1700 K.g,
the quantity was hidden in the ship's diver. Several quantities
inside modernized parts and bodies of cars and trucks for
transporting goods between Yemen and neighboring countries have been
also seized.

Trucks coming from neighboring countries carrying second hand
furniture and clothes then returned vacant to be used for
transferring shipments of drugs. According to state statistics, one
person has made a place in his car for hiding 200 kilograms of
drugs. He was transporting them along with his family. Drugs also
have been seized in cars doors and inside tires and inside hideouts
next places of children whose fathers take them for misleading
security.

Billions of Rials have been seized from drugs merchants

Penal prosecution's reports indicate that the country has got
billions of Rials seized from gangs arrested red handed during the
recent years.Among of these incomings are ships, boats and cars of
new modern do not open the doors of them only by fingerprint in
addition to great sums of monies by Yemeni Saudi coins.

Concerned bodies who are in charge of seizure noticed that drugs
merchants are transferring more monies via exchanging stores, they
regularly travel inside and outside the country and open fake
corporations for covering their wealth from drugs trafficking.

The Head of Specialized Penal Prosecution Judge Saeed al-Aqel says
that drugs has become a phenomenon and what have been seized is
small part of the problem's size. He says that drugs issues have
increased to the degree that observer sees it as a ware waged
against Yemen even the country is not targeted but used as a
crossing point or a transit station.

He says that Yemeni law approves death penalty against any one
brings and exports drugs and imprisonment penalty is no lesser than
25 years. Drugs are categorized as organized crimes crossing borders
and trafficking with is conducted by gangs on continuous contacts in
and outside Yemen.

Over sources of drugs brought to Yemen, al-Aqel says the main
sources of drugs are Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan but this does
not mean that everything enters Yemen is seized. It might be that
there are great quantities are not captured.

Over dangers of drugs on Yemeni National Security, he says that
drugs are great lesion and their effects are deep for this reason
some countries called drugs weapons of mass destruction because of
their damages on individual and society level besides that the
country is spending much on fighting them instead of utilizing these
monies on development.Over question why Yemen has become a passage
for drugs traffickers, al-Aqel says in a period of time, neighboring
countries tightened measures around their borders and did not find
outlets other than ours. Ships and boats carrying Iranian and
Pakistani banners have been also captured.