Drugs destroyed in Mogadishu

Somalia's Transitional National Government (TNG) has destroyed a consignment of drugs weighing about 1,000 kg, Mogadishu's police chief said.

Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdid told IRIN the drugs were burned in public in front of the police academy on Saturday. The event was attended by senior TNG officials, including President Abdiqassim Salad Hassan.

The drugs, mostly cannabis, had been seized in special operations over the past few months by anti-narcotics police. "We have so far detained 280 people on drugs charges," Qeybdid said.

He added that the drug was found mostly in the regions of Lower Shabelle, Middle Shabelle, Shabelle, Lower Juba, Middle Juba and some districts of the capital. "We also seized about 40 kg of cannabis seed from India," he said.

According to Qeybdid, drug abuse and trafficking had become rampant in the country which was why he had set up a special task force to fight the menace. He blamed much of Mogadishu's crime problem on drug abuse, and estimated that "up to 30 percent of crime is directly related to drug abuse".

Qeybdid said the police were convinced that some of the drugs seized were in transit to other countries.

"We are certain that some of it, if not most, was meant for foreign countries," he stressed. He said the police needed support if they were to succeed in curbing the threat "not only for us but for the outside world".

He appealed to the international donor community, in particular aid agencies working in Somalia, to help with training, drugs education and equipment.