Over 400 Tanzanian youth have been arrested with narcotics outside the country

  The minister of State in the President’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), Mr William Lukuvi

Over 400 Tanzanian youth have been arrested with narcotics outside the country, the government said yesterday.

Countries in which the youth were caught include Hong Kong, Brazil, United Arab Emirates, Kenya, the UK, Malawi, Oman, Switzerland, the US, Chile, Botswana and China.

The minister of State in the President’s Office (Policy, Coordination and Parliamentary Affairs), Mr William Lukuvi, said 18 of the suspects were arrested in Hong Kong, 108 in Brazil and 65 in China.

He added that 220 kilograms of heroin were seized in Tanzania and 18 suspects arrested in the last six months.

Mr Lukuvi said 15.4kg of cocaine and other narcotic substances were impounded and seven suspects arrested during the same period.

He added that traffickers had in recent months been attempting to smuggle into the country ephedrine, a chemical used for producing narcotics.

Mr Lukuvi blamed the high incidence of drug smuggling into the country on legal loopholes which enabled drug barons to use their financial muscle to escape imprisonment. Once they were arrested and arraigned, the law required them to pay a sum, said Mr Lukuvi, adding that the government was in a process of amending the law to give the Anti-Drugs Commission the power to arrest and prosecute suspects.

Narcotics are threatening the national economy, as the vice contributes to the spread of HIV and Aids, lung and heart diseases as well as tuberculosis, he said. The government is currently rehabilitating 1,526 drug addicts, mostly the workforce, at Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam.