Zubair Yaqoob Minister for Narcotics Control & SAFRON Shehryar Khan Afridi has urged expansion in scope of regional and global cooperation to help save the world from the menace of drugs. Addressing the participants of 4th Trans-regional Cooperation Meeting on Drugs Control, the minister said that Pakistan has been spearheading efforts for saving the world from the menace of narcotics. “We have been working as first line of defence against drugs and terrorism.” In this regard, he said, Pakistan has been working with partners and allies to save the region and the world from the menace of drugs. “For this very purpose, Trans-Regional and global partnership frameworks have been a priority area for Pakistan and we would like to expand our scope of cooperation with the world,” he said. Unfortunately, the minister said, the world has yet to acknowledge the sacrifices made by the countries fighting drugs. “This is need of the hour that sacrifices being made in combating drugs should be recognized by the UN and its allied agencies on the pattern of recognition being given to peacekeeping forces. Pakistan enjoys poppy free status since 2001. Moreover, globally we rank in top tier for the seizures of drugs though with meager resources and low man power we have mastered this art with high intelligence and professional force of ANF,” he added. Afridi said that Pakistan has recently developed the smart phone application ‘Zindagi’ for drug demand reduction and raising awareness among society at large. “Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the application and we have been receiving appreciation for that from regional and world partners. Moreover, we have indigenously developed a large database (Am’aan) of criminals wanted in drugs related crimes across the world. This would help Pakistan and its partners to track all the international drug peddlers,” he added. He said Pakistan under new policy will further enhance international cooperation as we understand that drug related crimes are of international and trans-continental nature. “The organized crime syndicates, blinded by their greed and lust are adopting innovative illegal means to maximize their earnings at the cost of innocent human lives”. MoS also acknowledged the support from EU-ACT project team, EU delegation to Pakistan and the National Crime Agency of UK for holding this.
