Ceylon Today Editorial

Sri Lanka to tackle illegal drug trade

15 November 2016

It seems as if the Sri Lanka Government is finally paying some overdue attention to the illegal drug trade in the country, alongside the cigarette problem that has been a burning problem since God knows when. It's not as if we have other dire problems we could be solving, spending more money on (i.e. allocating funds to provide children free laptops and tablets when their education quality can be improved and developed by training more teachers and developing our examination system), but this issue is remains one of the largest issues according to our President.

Accordingly, the Sri Lanka Police has decided to take into custody over 50 shipping containers from Brazil at the Colombo Port on the suspicion that they contain cocaine. The Police Narcotics Bureau's suspicions have secured a formidable ground as it was only a few months ago that another Brazilian shipping container was found in Pethiyagoda, carrying a cache of cocaine worth over Rs 450 million.

Thus, the section holding the shipping containers have been restricted and access will only be available to the authorities. In 1998, the last time the United Nations held a special gathering to discuss drug policy (and later this year), the stated goal was "eliminating or significantly reducing the illicit cultivation of the coca bush (the leaf which is the raw material used to manufacture cocaine), the cannabis plant and the opium poppy by the year 2008." This was when just a handful of Andean nations – Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia – were responsible for virtually the entire global supply of cocaine.

Funded in large part by the US – the world's largest cocaine consumer – Colombia and Peru have spent decades and many dollars spraying poison on the fields of impoverished farmers, or campesinos, who turned to coca because it is significantly more valuable than other crops. Coca has also fuelled conflict in both countries.

While official estimates summarily put Peru ahead of Colombia in overall cocaine production, the homeland of Pablo Escobar regained the top spot after its output of the white powder spiked by 44 per cent last year. A variety of factors are behind the surge, including a peace deal between the Colombia Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia; and, oddly enough, the price of gold.

According to the United Nations Office on Drug and Crime (UNODC) 2015 report on the drug trade, more than 420 million shipping containers move around the globe by sea every year, transporting 90 per cent of the world's cargo. Most carry legitimate goods – but authorities cannot inspect every container, and some are used to smuggle drugs. It will be practical to say that out of those 420 million + shipping containers a certain percentage that leaves South America and arrives in Sri Lanka is bound to contain cocaine. Why does it come here? Does Sri Lanka have a market for cocaine?

Cocaine is by and large an elitist drug with prices ranging above average limits, meaning that the small man could not afford it. Unless of course, it is sneaked out using other means such as small amounts of cocaine going missing from Police evidence or small quantities being misplaced from Customs or even Port Authorities. Thus, the Sri Lankan cocaine market is small and most likely that only one per cent of the society is using.

This means one thing alone; Sri Lanka is a transit hub for the international illegal drug trade. This is an obvious conclusion even the local authorities might have caught up on. Given Sri Lanka's historical significance of being a natural transit point for maritime/air routes that lie from West to East. Sri Lanka might just be the gateway to drugs that enter East and South Asia and beyond.

Thus, what authorities could do is, not just sit around and wait until something happens, but inquire as to where these containers were being transported to; their final destination of arrival. What deserves to be commended should be commended; the move to hold and inspect the 50 containers, in this situation was a good move.

Yet, this is a war, if the government is taking it that seriously that is, is not a one-man-war (or rather one-country-war) that can be waged. The final consequences of that scenario are devastating. However, we are not alone in this fight; we have allies. And it is about time their assistance was sought.