WAR AGAINST DRUGS

The battle against trade in illegal drugs is unremitting and requires
continual effort to try to reduce it. The UAE's position as a major trading
centre makes it an important point to have effective controls in place, and
previous years have shown good results. The UN Subcommission on illegal
drugs which is meeting in Abu Dhabi has focused on the flow of heroin from
Afghanistan, which the Taliban government had cut to 6 per cent of its
former amount. It is concerned that the current instability will force
Afghan farmers to return to cultivating poppies in order to survive.

The same issue is being debated on Tuesday when China, Laos, Myanmar and
Thailand will assess their joint efforts to reduce the drug trade. United
Nations officials have warned that Southeast Asia must brace for a boom in
drug trafficking as the recent stopping of supply from Afghanistan would
spur demand for drugs from South Asia where the Golden Triangle between
Myanmar, Thailand and Laos is now the major source of opium.

Along with the states of South Asia, the UAE is part of the global effort to
stop the trade in illegal drugs. The combination of good police work and
effective financial controls have given a great boost to the country's work
in catching the drug smugglers. At a global level, the colossal amount of
money which goes to organised crime from the drug trade and the untold
social misery which drugs cause, have made this struggle very important to
keep working at. It requires relentless vigilance to make sure that as one
loophole is closed, another does not open.