Numbers arrested in drug war causing logistical nightmare

The ongoing was on drugs launched last Sunday and completing five days on Friday has strained the country’s over-burdened prisons system already accommodating about twice the number the jails were meant for.

According to the latest statistics, about 8,500 arrests have been made over the five day operation. It costs the prisons department Rs. 800 a day to feed a prisoner. This would mean a daily cost of Rs. 6.2 million.

There are also the demands on the Government Analyst to test the samples sent to his department. Each of these tests will cost around Rs. 5,000. Also, it will take time for laboratory testing to be completed.

The police are now looking at convicted drug offenders, about 4,000 of them are on record, to make sure they are not back in narcotics. Many of those targeted are addicts and small time pushers some of whom are being sent for rehabilitation.

Well informed sources said that the numbers being taken to custody, prison capacity and associated issues like what the Government Analyst can do is creating a “logistical nightmare.”