UGANDA MUST TAKE DRUG TRADE SERIOUSLY

The war against trafficking and use of banned narcotic drugs has been
going on in the western world for more than two generations, but with
apparently relatively little effect considering that the criminals
who indulge in this abhorrent business are now spreading their
tentacles across the Atlantic and Pacific seas to our very doorsteps.

While the US government is at the forefront of combatting the drug
trade that is thriving in Latin and Central America, pumping millions
of dollars and in some cases deploying diverse human resources to
assist several countries in that part of the world to counter the
unrepentant drug barons, we still have people who see no point in
acknowledging that drugs kill.

The Americans' commitment, nonetheless, is such that in 1989 they
invaded Panama and captured that country's leader, Manuel Antonio
Noriega, who had been their former ally. He was first detained as a
prisoner of war before finally being arraigned and convicted of
cocaine trafficking, racketeering and money laundering by a Miami,
Florida court.

It is instructive that the crimes for which Noriega is still serving
a prison sentence have always formed part and parcel of the generally
illegal activities unique to drug dealers. They will either be
involved in money laundering activities, human trafficking or
something as debasing as promoting prostitution. We are seeing that
pattern being replicated in Uganda.

But unfortunately, despite the US government's efforts to help
friendly governments join in combatting this cancer, Uganda's
security services do not seem to have taken the threats posed by
these criminals that seriously.

For instance, the Narcotics Department of the Uganda Police Force is
hopelessly under-resourced in terms of financing, equipment and
manpower. As a consequence, they can hardly match the sophistication
with which dealers in narcotics carry on their reprehensible business.

The police say they have now set up a Crime Intelligence Unit which
will hopefully address this problem. But we can only wait to see the
results before taking them at their word. In the meantime, the number
of Ugandans and foreign nationals travelling from here, who are
getting arrested at European airports with large quantities of either
cocaine or heroin, is rising.

Uganda cannot afford the risk of being blacklisted by the world
community as a place where the authorities do not take drug
trafficking seriously.