RIYADH, 3 July — Drug abuse among the youth is a dangerous and potentially explosive phenomenon worldwide. It may be lurking right outside the doors, yet many of us choose to ignore its ramifications in Saudi Arabia.
In one Riyadh suburb early last month, a huge illegal distillery used for brewing alcohol and storing drugs was raided by the police. A total of 23 bottles of alcohol and a whole swimming pool filled with more than 20 barrels of wine were found, according to Capt. Saif Ibn Mutlaq Al-Wiqait who led the raiding team.
The police arrested an expatriate worker, who confessed to selling an average 26 cartons of wine every week, each carton containing 12 bottles. A carton was sold for a wholesale price of SR1,000. In many other cases reported mainly from Jeddah and Riyadh in recent years, a number of drug-filled prayer beads, prayer rugs, drugs hidden in peddlers’ private parts and even opium stuffed between the pages of the Holy Qur’an were seized by the local customs officials from fake pilgrims.
In another apparent innovation, 21 Pakistanis including three children carrying 4.5 kgs of heroin in plastic eggs concealed in their private parts were nabbed. The difficulty they seemed to have in disembarking from the plane at King Abdul Aziz International Airport, Jeddah caught the eyes of customs officials, leading to the recovery of 44 drug-filled plastic eggs.
All this indicates a surge in demand for drugs and alcohol in the local market, which has been created, of late, by international drug traffickers operating on a global level. In fact, the number of drug smugglers, dealers and users in the Kingdom has increased sharply from 4,279 in 1986 to 17,199 in 2001, according to an official report. Hence, it is foreseen that the Kingdom, which has been enjoying the fruits of a five-decade economic miracle, will soon suffer from the menace of drug trafficking and abuse. At least three districts of the capital city today-Batha, Olaya and Badia-are said to be safe havens for alcohol and drug peddlers.
"What I saw around me totally contradicts my conviction that drugs are rarely available in the Kingdom", said an expat on condition of anonymity. He said there was plenty of evidence about the growing sale of alcohol and drugs including heroin, brown sugar and pills in some streets of Riyadh. There are signs that international drug rings have deputed their vendors who locate buyers before the drugs are actually supplied to the Gulf states including the Kingdom.
The Saudi government, on its part, has taken several measures to curb drug trafficking and abuse. The growing concern of drug trafficking has led Saudi Arabia to set up an ever-expanding network of chapters of its Anti-Narcotics Commission to curb smuggling and abuse of drugs on the country-wide level. This has led the anti-drug agencies to seize more than 245 tons of hashish, opium, heroin, cocaine and qat last year alone, according to an official report published recently. This was in addition to the confiscation of some 9.7 million narcotic pills, dumped into the Kingdom by drug peddlers.
A total of 1,134 smugglers and 4,356 dealers were also arrested last year out of whom 29 percent were picked up from Makkah-Jeddah region followed by 22 percent from Riyadh region. This is in addition to the arrests of 11,693 drug- users made last year by the Ministry of Interior. More than 30 percent of them were unemployed people, who, if not properly treated and punished, might turn into harecore criminals to finance their expensive habits. According to the official report, out of the total number of smugglers, dealers and users; 79 percent were Saudis including 41 Saudi women. The remaining were expatriates, who have been working as link men between peddlers and consumers. In many cases, expats have been carriers of drugs and caught at the Kingdom’s entry points. Since, imprisonment rarely helps to tackle the underlying problems of drug-trafficking, a number of them, including Saudis, were executed under Shariah laws.
Besides, Saudi Arabia has also sought the help of France-based Interpol to arrest drug traffickers and fraudsters, said Ronald K. Noble, Interpol chief, while speaking to newsmen in Riyadh on May 29 this year.
The Riyadh-based Naif Arab Academy for Security Sciences (NAASS) has also been organzing seminars, official meetings and exhibitions in a move to align the efforts of the Gulf countries and Arab states to fight the menace of drug abuse.
Many long-time residents of Riyadh, however, are of the opinion that the situation is becoming alarming in the city. A look at the 12th statistical book published by the Ministry of Interior revealed a growing drug nexus in the Kingdom with the number of drug-related cases reported during 1986 at very low figure of 4,279. This figure has multiplied several times despite intensified efforts by the Kingdom to check the use and trafficking of drugs. It hands down death sentence to drug convicts.
On the other hand, Saudi Arabia has also reiterated the importance of international cooperation to confront the menace of drugs. At the regional level, the Kingdom in collaboration with the neighboring countries has concluded a series of agreements for combating drugs. It has already signed international agreements for combating drugs including the agreements of 1961, 1971 and 1988. The Kingdom has also been supporting all global initiatives in this regard.
Saudi Arabia has also set up three specialized hospitals in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam for treatment of drug-addicts. These Al-Amal hospitals have 280 beds in total. All these measures are being taken to curb the trafficking of drugs and their use, which is inflicting huge losses on the national economy.
Though, exact figures are not known as to how much Saudi Arabia is losing, the cost to the world of ever-increasing drug abuse could be as high as $1000 billion a year, according to the United Nations.
The global costs include precious money spent on law enforcement services, handling crime and accidents, medical treatment and from the loss of productivity. According to the UN report, the overall costs of drug abuse account for as much as five percent of gross domestic product (GDP) per year. But, more and more governments and institutions are becoming more aware of the effects of drug abuse and are calling for concerted effort to check the evil.
