A large quantity of cannabis is still being smuggled into the country through porous points along the Tanzania-Rwanda border and some of it enters through the Burundian border. This was disclosed by police officers at an Anti-narcotics Day in Eastern Province’s Kirehe District yesterday. The campaign was preceded by a two kilometre march by police and local residents who carried placards urging the population to get rid of drugs. According to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Stanley Nsabimana, the Rwanda National Police will intensify its campaign against cannabis and illicit alcohol for an entire week. He said that the police had planned awareness programs to educate youth on ill effects of drug addiction. “Drugs have affected our youth. They are responsible for moral decadence in our country. We have carried out several operations in the past aimed at arresting the perpetrators and at this point, we aim for zero drug society,” he said. “We are very assured that we shall win the battle of tracking down culprits and bringing them to book”. The Governor of Eastern Province, Odette Uwamariya, who participated in the campaign, urged Kirehe residents to partner with police by sharing information about persons suspected to be dealing in drugs. One of the five notorious drug dealers paraded by the police before Kirehe residents, nicknamed ‘Gifaransa’, said he was going to stop the business. “I have been dealing with drug planting and trafficking from Tanzania for a long time. Unfortunately, I have gained nothing. Despite the fact that it’s a lucrative business, it involves a lot of risks that have left me bankrupt,” he testified. “I wish I could get money to pay my debt to a Tanzanian man and then quit the business for good. If I don’t pay him he will bewitch me, this is my big worry. I am bankrupt, enough is enough,” he told residents who were listening in amazement.
