Drug addiction ruins lives, and not just the lives of those who use them. The families of addicts suffer, seeing their loved ones fade. It can tear families apart. 

The fight against drugs must always remain a priority. Law enforcement must continuously receive resources and training to be able to stay on top of things and to catch and arrest those trafficking illegal drugs in the country.

Drug traffickers and pushers are only interested in one thing - profit. During an interview with The Malta Independent on Sunday an inspector from the Police Drug Squad, Mark Anthony Mercieca, said: “These people do not care about the health of their clients; they are only interested in their pockets. The products are being made more addictive to keep their demand stable.”

Traffickers must be caught, prosecuted and jailed.

During the interview, inspector Mercieca gave an insight into the drug situation in Malta.  Cannabis is the preferred drug in most countries, including Malta, followed by cocaine, heroin and synthetic drugs, he explained. The demand for drugs remains high, he said. “Globalisation has made it so that organised crime groups (OCGs) are not only based in Colombia or the Netherlands. They have spread around the world, and in Malta we have various members of foreign OCGs, as well as local,” Mercieca said.

Malta has legalised cannabis for personal use, but those trafficking cannabis illegally must be prosecuted. Keep in mind, such traffickers could deal to teens or use such proceeds for other criminal activities.

“Before, drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis and synthetics were expensive.

Nowadays, drugs are more accessible and affordable,” the inspector said. He also said that many seizures are connected with foreign individuals who would be part of an OCG. “They are so large, and they will never stop. There is a big profit for criminals. The war against drugs does not stop,” he said.

The fight against drug trafficking is one that requires constant funding of law enforcement, strong manpower and great resolve.

Police can never have enough manpower in the war against drugs, Inspector Mercieca said. “There is never enough; the war against drugs continues to grow. OCGs nowadays have become more refined, made technological advances, increased their manpower. Many of them have joined forces to take care of shipments, sales and money-laundering activities,” Mercieca said. “It is never enough to cater for the criminals we face every day, regardless of how many people you have. But the battle continues and we do our best to stop it and remove harmful substances from our streets, to avoid it reaching our children and youths,” he said.

When one drug trafficker is taken down, another will likely take his or her place. This means that our law enforcement agencies need to continuously be given the resources they need to combat drug trafficking and prosecute such criminals. The fight against drug trafficking requires vigilance and constant action by law enforcement. It also requires collaboration between not just local, but international agencies. It requires law enforcement trying to keep one step ahead of the methods criminals use to import and distribute drugs and that means keeping as up to date as possible with the importation trends criminals use. Traffickers cannot be allowed to win.

The Maltese police have made some good busts in recent years, and they should be applauded for that. One can mention that a record of nearly 3,000 kilos of cocaine were seized by the police last year. But it is never enough. We must keep educating against drug use, and we must keep fighting against organised crime and trafficking.