Azman speaking at a press conference after the launch of ‘Ops Selamat 14’.
KUCHING: The police have declared that they will “wage a war on drugs”, in the words of Sarawak Police Commissioner Datuk Azman Yusof.
Azman said he would instruct all district police chiefs in Sarawak to focus on eradicating the drug menace by going all out to put a stop to all drug related activities.
“Our operation on drugs will focus on all illegal drug related activities ranging from trafficking to addicts.
“It has been found that drug abuse has caused a lot of problems, even leading to other criminal cases.
“Sometimes unthinkable crimes related to drugs happen, such as when a child murders his mother, friend and a fellow abuser,” he told a press conference after launching ‘Ops Selamat 14’ in conjunction with this year’s Chinese New Year celebrations in Siburan today.
“For Sarawak, I will go all out to eradicate the drug threat.
“I urge all community leaders, all departments, and all who are involved in this matter, to go all out on drugs because it is a huge threat to the public.
“I don’t want drugs to destroy the community here,” he said.
Azman also urged the public to provide the police with any information on drug related activities so that they can act on it.
According to the statistics released by the state Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) on Jan 17, a total of RM7.6 million worth of drugs had been seized in Sarawak last year with the highest value being syabu (methamphetamine).
The police have also seized a total of RM2.59 million worth of properties and arrested a total of 537 individuals who were believed to be drug pushers.
In 2018, NCID had also recorded a total of 1,628 cases involving individuals for drug possession while a total of 4,669 individuals were arrested after failing their drug urine tests.
Under the Sarawak Police Contingent, a total of 6,834 individuals were arrested for various drug activities throughout the year 2018.