Police IG Kanja Reveals Plan To Treat Drug Abuse Like Terrorism
He termed the issue of drugs as a major concern for the National Police Service (NPS) and pointed out that drug trafficking poses the same threat as terrorism
Marvin Chege 
Inspector General of Police (IG) Douglas Kanja on Thursday, February 13 called for the strengthening of the Anti-Narcotics Unit under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to the point that it deals with drug trafficking cases in the same manner terrorism is dealt with in the country.
Speaking during the launch of the report on the Status of Drug and Substance Abuse in Universities in Kenya by the National Authority for the Campaign against Drug and Alcohol Abuse (NACADA), the police boss stressed the importance of enhancing the unit’s capabilities and reinforcing cooperation with other agencies.
He termed the issue of drugs as a major concern for the National Police Service (NPS) and pointed out that drug trafficking poses the same threat as terrorism given that some proceeds go to directly financing terrorism through the procurement of weapons from the black market.
A photo of drugs and a glass containing alcohol. /BUSINESS DAILY
"We want to enhance the capability of the Anti-Narcotics Unit to the levels of the Anti-Terror Police Unit so that we enhance it and we are moving in that direction together with everybody here including NACADA and other donors who are like-minded with us and we are working so that we can have a very strong team because we believe that some of the proceeds from these drugs also go to finance terrorism," he revealed.
"So we need to work very closely, ensure our teams are well-funded, resourced, equipped and well-trained officers who can be able to do that. We are on that trajectory and we are ready and willing to work with everybody in that direction."
Founded in 1983, the Anti-Narcotics Unit operates under the DCI and enforces the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act No. 4 of 1994. Its specially trained and equipped officers are deployed at critical exit and entry points, such as seaports, airports, border crossings, and major highways.
Kanja pointed out that although Kenya was once primarily a transit hub for illegal drugs, recent research shows a rising issue of domestic drug consumption.
Speaking at the same event, Interior Cabinet Secretary (CS) Kipchumba Murkomen urged IG Kanja to allocate more resources to police stations located near major universities.
“IG, we need to strengthen all the police stations near the universities whether it is Central Police in Nairobi, in Rongai near (Africa) Nazarene University, or the one near Kenyatta University (KU) with deliberate inter-agency efforts within the police to see how we can integrate these investigations,” the CS stated.
Murkomen went on to suggest deploying National Intelligence Service (NIS) officers to universities across the country to address drug and alcohol abuse.
“You know, in the past, we were told, I don’t know, we used to be told that some of the students we saw at the university were not students. We used to be told they were police officers, intelligence officers, they were busy,” he stated.
“Why don’t we go back there IG (Kanja) to make sure that we have intelligence officers working within the university, with the university students, and with police officers? This will help us get proper intelligence and proper intervention in dealing with drugs and drug abuse."
In NACADA's report, 66.4 percent of university students surveyed indicated that their friends were the main sources of drugs. If not friends, students also get their drugs from canteen/bar/premises within the neighbourhood at 59.3 percent with fellow students within the institution following suit at 56 percent, findings that outline the influence of social circles in university settings in terms of drug and substance abuse in the country.
Other sources of drugs include online purchasing over websites or social media (39.4%); canteen/bar/premises within the institution (28.0%); support/non-teaching staff (11.4%); and lecturers/teaching staff (7.0%).
"We were asking them, where do they get these drugs and we found that the teaching staff is supplying them, seven per cent of them are getting the drugs from the teaching staff," the Director Research, Standards and Licensing NACADA John Muteti revealed.
"Can you imagine, if the lecturer can sell that, how dangerous can that be? We also found that parents are also supplying these drugs. They store them in the fridge and students access them, others go further to take the students with them and take the drugs together because the students are older."
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