The opposition Gambia Democratic Congress has expressed its “deep concerns” about the rise in illegal drugs and violent crime in The Gambia. 

In a statement the party leader Mamma Kandeh said: “Make no mistake the Gambia is crystallising into a narcotics hub alongside a frightening human cost of the surge in crime rate. 

“The Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC) view with deep concern the myriad of credible reports about the world’s deadliest illicit drugs gaining inflow into our country cum the growing spate of internal criminal activities such as murder, burglary/robbery with arms among others. 

“The issue of massive tons of illicit drugs or narcotics being intercepted here and there in the country as well as at some of our border posts is not just alarming; it is rather deeply disturbing considering the dangerous consequences of the presence of these drugs in our society.

“Recently, officers of DLEAG confiscated more than 2 tons of cocaine with an estimated street value of more than $80-million US dollars (4.5 billion dalasis) at Banjul Seaport on 7th January 2021. 

“In another development, large quantities of suspicious medicinal drugs being moved from The Gambia were intercepted and seized at the Keur Ayib, Gambia-Senegal border post.

“It is noteworthy, that narcotics of the manner of those gaining entry into the country are capable of engineering violence in our society at an unprecedented rate and, not the least, fostering the breeding of criminal groups, insurgents and terrorists along with the devastating consequences they have on the health and security sectors as has been experienced by some of our sister nations.

“It is a well-known fact that in recent years, the Latin American drug cartels appear to have shifted their attention to supplying the lucrative European market by developing networks in West Africa, and our country is now their focal point with the aid of some local collaborators who they pay in both cash and drugs such as cocaine, while creating a local consumer market for the drug. 

“We may not be able to appreciate the social and economic impact as well as the attendant human costs the presence of these drugs in our midst is having on the country’s economy. 

“Basically, all the money earned from criminal activities such as drug-trafficking has to be laundered, once the money-laundering channels are created, it is inevitable that they will be used to conceal the gains obtained from all kinds of criminal activities in the future. 

“These economic and financial consequences of the drug trade make any possible economic benefit for the community, other than those the narcotic trade itself may bring, harder to see.”