Drugs Pouring Through South African Ports

Cape Town South Africa continues to lose the battle on drugs as ports of entry are increasingly used as an international gateway for the trafficking of drugs, and around a third of South African adults admit to use drugs on a recreational basis. A recently released report by the European Unions Serious and Organised Crime threat Assessment has brought attention again to South African ports as known drug gateways.

This is not a new problem. The Democratic Alliance has been calling for specialised drug units to be put in place to attempt to root out the problem of drugs in South Africa. Institute of Security Studies researcher, Charles Goredema, said that most South African ports in Southern Africa are known drug gateways.

Quinton Van Kerken of the Anti-Drug Alliance South Africa said yesterday that the level of drugs in South Africa have reached a critical mass, a point at which police no longer stand a chance to stop the flow of drugs. His comments came after the release of their 2012 annual drug survey.

The survey found that around one third of South African adults support the legalisation of some drugs, like marijuana. He said that considering the size of the drug problem in South Africa, government needs to consider taking other routes to handle the problem, including looking at regulation and even legalisation.

Photo: Courtesy Wikimedia

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Drugs Pouring Through South African Ports