More than 1,000 individuals are currently enrolled in the national drug treatment system, with ongoing efforts to expand opportunities for as many applicants as possible, the National Drug Agency stated. Strengthening initiatives to rescue the community from the drug epidemic remains a premier internal security priority for the current administration.
Parallel operations conducted over the past two years to interdict border narcotics resulted in the seizure of more than 320 kilograms of illegal substances, while upwards of 140 related cases have been formally filed over the past four years, according to the Ministry of Homeland Security, Labour and Technology.
A total of 1,082 individuals are presently completing rehabilitation under agency supervision, Ahmed Siddeeq, the chairman of the National Drug Agency, noted during an appearance on the PSM News programme ‘Raajje Miadhu’. The agency administers seven distinct programmes integrating centre-based, semi-residential, and community rehabilitation tracks.
"Five hundred and thirty-three individuals are currently receiving treatment," Siddeeq explained, noting the figure includes eight minors. Another 24 participate in semi-residential care, 113 reside at the centre, and 370 receive methadone therapy.
Acute infrastructure and human resource shortages leave 710 prospective patients on a waiting list, the chairman asserted. To expand national access, strategic initiatives will develop regional facilities, cultivate vocational skills, and secure employment for recovering individuals. Robust community cooperation remains vital to achieve a permanent resolution, he maintained.