Pak poppy free country despite increased poppy production in Afghanistan: Shehryar Afridi
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ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for States and Frontier Region (SAFRON) and Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi Wednesday said Pakistan has become poppy free country since 2001 despite increased production of poppy in her neighbouring country Afghanistan.
Speaking at the launching ceremony of World Drug Report 2019 on the outset of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, he said, “Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) with meager staff and scarce resources has managed to sustain the ambitious poppy status of the country amid diverse challenges and constraints.”
He said that the global community should shun realizing Pakistan with a prejudiced and partial perspective. “ANF has 29 police stations across the country with only 2900 workforce available to curb illicit drug trafficking and control modern intoxicating soporific substances’ proliferation in the educational institutions across the country,” he added.
Afridi said that ANF and Coast Guards were doing a great job in their capacity to monitor and control drug trafficking on 2611 kilometers border of Afghanistan and 909 kilometers of Iran alongwith other law enforcement agencies. Frontier Corps (FC) Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Balochistan from North and South were fighting the mafia propagating fatal drugs from the porous borders of Afghanistan into Pakistan hence reaching Iran for further supply to Europe and other developed countries, he noted.
APP
