DPM tells agency
> Efforts to fight narcotics scourge still wanting, says Ahmad Zahid
PUTRAJAYA: The National Anti-Drugs Agency (Nada) has been told to review its operations.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said efforts to fight the drug menace has not been fully successful although the National Drug Policy had been amended and improved from time to time.
He said as the prime agency in matters related to drug abuse, Nada needs to be ahead and innovative in its operations as the production and trafficking of prohibited substances had changed, with the use of non-conventional methods, Bernama reported.
“Although the drug problem is a global issue, we still need to do better to overcome this long-standing issue.
“I have asked Nada director-general (Datuk Abd Halim Mohd Hussin) to look at aspects that are still unsatisfactory or flaws in the existing system in regard to enforcement and rehabilitation,” he told a press conference after the Home Ministry’s monthly assembly yesterday.
Ahmad Zahid also wants Nada to forge closer cooperation with the relevant agencies at the international level to ensure the implementation of more efficient measures to address narcotic production, that has become increasingly sophisticated, and the trafficking of these drugs.
He said Nada should also revolutionise its operations as the production of narcotics had now shifted to synthetic drugs, a shift that could bring more danger to society.
“These synthetic drugs can be produced just by learning about it from the internet and because of this, Nada must be smarter and be ahead of drug producers and traffickers.”
Ahmad Zahid said Malaysia could not copy or use procedures of other countries to combating the drug menace as the methods, such as in the Philippines where law enforcers are allowed to shoot drug traffickers, were unsuitable for use in this country.
He said Malaysia has its own ways of fighting the drug menace, including the setting up of the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department which carried out prevention and enforcement measures, while Nada carried out rehabilitation and educational programmes against drug abuse.
He said these two agencies played their respective roles with the assistance of other agencies such as the Customs Department and Border Security Agency.
At the monthly assembly, Ahmad Zahid also witnessed the signing of the ministry’s corruption-free pledge, that was signed by its secretary-general Datuk Seri Alwi Jantan and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief commissioner Tan Sri Dzulkifli Ahmad.