File photo showing an ongoing programme in a school to instill awareness among students to keep away from drugs.
KUCHING: A standard operating procedure (SOP) has been drawn up by the state Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) together with the Sarawak Education Department to curb the spread of drug abuse among students here.
NCID head Supt Sahar Abdul Latif said Sarawak recorded the highest number of secondary school students who were tested positive for drugs in the country as of October last year.
“We have formed a close union with the education department to tackle these issue by arresting the culprits who are selling these drugs to the students,” Sahar said during a press conference at the Sarawak Police Contingent Headquarters (IPK) this morning.
He added that the police would provide their full support to these students – who can be seen as victims – as they are targeted by the drug pushers.
So far, the police have managed to arrest four individuals who are targeting students, while pursuing another suspect for similar crimes.
The police also called for parents to monitor their children’s activities closely, and to report any suspected drug-related activities.
Sahar said parents and guardians should not be afraid to come forward voluntarily to have their statements taken if they have discovered that their child is involved in drug-related activities.
“Do not worry as the police will not arrest the child as he or she is not entirely 100 per cent at fault. We (the police) will only take action against the drug pusher,” said Sahar.
On another note, he revealed that the state NCID have seized a total of RM7.6 million worth of drugs with the highest value being syabu (methamphetamine) in Sarawak last year.
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 he said have also recorded a total of 1,628 cases involving individuals for drug posession 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.