APS : Sunday, 18 March 2018
VIENNA (Austria)- Algeria reiterated at the 61st session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, in Vienna, its determination to fight drug trafficking and proliferation, calling for an “integrated and balanced” approach.
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs, met in Austria’s capital, from 12th to 16th March, to define the global policies and strategies for the fight against drug and crime.
Algeria, through its ambassador in Vienna, expressed its commitment to continuing its efforts to reduce illicit drug offer by boosting security bodies, especially on its western border.
A large mobilization of the relevant bodies (People’s National Army, National Gendarmerie, Police and the Customs) has resulted in “reducing cannabis trafficking with captures falling from 109 tons in 2016 to 52 tons in 2017,” the Algerian ambassador said.
“Money earned from drug trafficking as well as ransom payment contributes to the funding of terrorist and criminal acts, which undermine security in some regions of the world, like the Sahel and West Africa.”
Mentioning efforts made to curb drug demand, the Algerian official stressed “the interest the authorities attach to the treatment of the drug-addicted.”
A total of 53 drug rehab centers planned, 42 are in operation, he said.
Algeria, he added, “continues to work for a deeper regional and international cooperation to thwart, together (with its partners) this cross-border threat which has taken a worrisome dimension.”
The Algerian delegation recalled that Algiers hosted, on 25 October 2017, the first Global Counterterrorism Forum’s regional meeting on the relationship between terrorism and organized crime in Africa.
