Rwanda National Police

It is not rocket science to know that abusing drugs has adverse effects on a society and an individual. Addiction to drugs which are illegal, such as marijuana and cannabis, often has terrible mental effect on an individual’s brain, thus corrupting their judgment capabilities and in the worst case scenario, can lead to death.

The saddest part to this story is that young people are the ones usually caught up in this evasive act, and it has led some of them to drop out of school, engage in criminal activities or become parents at an age they shouldn't.

As this year ticks away and as we prepare to welcome 2015, we must note that Rwanda National Police (RNP) has been at the forefront of fighting against this scourge wherever it has occurred in our society. But one ought to credit the role played by the general population in this fight through provision of credible information on dealers.

Besides constantly sensitizing masses throughout the country, RNP has ensured that day and night patrols monitor the borderlines against any criminals that plan to smuggle drugs into Rwanda.

There has been great success with very many cases reported where Police averted drug-smuggling criminals.

One notable cases happened in Rubavu District in October, where three unsuspecting criminals were pounced on by Police while smuggling cannabis from DRC. Surprising enough, one of the individuals was a woman, indicating how this crime has evolved and penetrated the gender divide.

But even more surprising is the amount of danger that the culprits put themselves into while on their illegal adventure. Police revealed that the three criminals had swum long distances through swamps and lakes in order to deliver 45 kilograms of cannabis to Rwanda.

Other cases involved individuals and groups who dared to use Rwanda as a transit for narcotics like cocaine and heroin – and as the story goes, not even they were spared from Police’s eagle-eye.

For example, four Rwandans were last month taken into custody for trying to traffic cocaine worth Rwf285 million through Rwanda from Brazil Sao Paolo.

Their arrest was successful due to RNP’s close cooperation with other national and international security agencies which provided timely information that helped to track down the suspect’s movement all the way from Sao Paolo, through Doha until their arrival at Kigali International Airport where they were arrested.

'Through Police’s vigilance and unrelenting intelligence, coupled with professional cooperation with the public, such successful missions have been conducted and they have delivered a strong message to those who have ill ambitions to partake in the behavior.

However, successful operations alone are not enough. That is why Police embarked on nationwide sensitization campaigns against the scourge. It is through this double-edged sword approach that Police has to a large extent been able to achieve its vision of ridding the country from drug abuse.

As the world marked the international Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit trafficking on 26th June this year, RNP partnered with government institutions to launch a nationwide campaign, through which officers engaged the public on the consequences of drug abuse.

It is during this time that the Kigali Institute of Health revealed disturbing statistics, showing more than 50 per cent of the youth between 14 and 35 years of age have consumed at least an illegal drug. Investigations also indicated that frequent crimes like theft, murder and rape, are induced by consumption of drugs.

It is through this realization that Police extended its campaign to the most vulnerable group – the youth.

In September, an anti-drug abuse campaign was launched in schools where Police officers challenged students from over 200 schools to be agents of change and join the campaign in calling upon the citizenry to flee from the habit of using illegal drugs.

It is therefore befitting to note that such outstanding efforts conducted by Police throughout the year did not die in vain, and were heavily responsible for seeing drug abuse cases falling by a confounding 2.5 percent compared with 2013.

As we welcome the year 2015, it is befitting to acknowledge that the challenge still remains and no reluctance can be tolerated.

Police will continue its campaigns and operations, and even adopt more efficient methods each year until the scourge of drug abuse is completely eradicated from the Rwandan society.