War on drugs in full swing

Manama : More than 600 arrests were made in the crackdown on drugs by the Interior Ministry in the first half of this year, a report said.  

Giving the breakup of the arrests, the Interior Ministry publication, Al Almn, said: “635 men and 27 women were arrested during the first half of this year, of which 95 are expatriates, 175 are Bahrainis and the rest are Arab nationals.” 

“Four people died due to drugs overdose when compared to that of the 11 deaths occurred last year,” the report said. 

Al Almn, quoting Interior Ministry, further said that the maximum numbers of arrests were recorded in March. 

“A total of 151 drug pedlars were arrested during the month,” the report said. “April closely followed with 132 arrests.” 

Revealing further, Al Almn said that 367 drug-related cases were registered at the King Fahad Causeway and 48 cases at the Bahrain International Airport.

The report also said that a total of 154 drug-related cases were registered here in the Kingdom. “Drug cases probed at the entry points, including arrests, reached 571 in the first half of this year,” Al Almn said. 

Bahrain has launched many initiatives in recent years to reduce drug-related crimes in the country.  On June 26, when marking the ‘International Day Against Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Minister of Interior, Lt. General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said: “79 per cent of the goals of the five-year strategic plan were achieved.” 

The Ministry also revealed statistics on safety. “The figures reveal there were 2694 cases relating to fires, first aid and community police. 26 people died on Bahrain’s roads from January until June. Police Patrols dealt with 568 accidents during the first six months. 234 people sustained injuries in these accidents.”