Faced with the seriousness of drug trafficking in Tunisia, the government seems determined to tackle it at source in order to stop or at least reduce the impact of this scourge, which threatens to undermine the foundations of society by ruining its young people.
In this context, President Kaïs Saïed, met Secretary of State to the Minister of the Interior in charge of National Security, Sofiène Bessadok, at the Carthage Palace.
According to a press release, the Head of State stressed the need to continue working intensively, day and night, to dismantle drug trafficking networks and called for permanent patrols to be deployed in all regions of the country to ensure that citizens feel safe at all times and in all places.
An international drug trafficking network!
The spokesman for the courts of Monastir and Mahdia, Farid Ben Jha, announced that initial investigations into the discovery of an international drug trafficking network on Sunday had led to the seizure of large quantities of cannabis and narcotic tablets.
The involvement of company directors and several individuals of different nationalities operating between Tunisia, Italy and France has been uncovered.
He explained that the members of this international network carry out their criminal activities on the coast in order to avoid land border controls.
Investigations revealed that a fishing boat carrying the drugs set off from the Dimass beach in Bekalta towards the coast of the island of Pantelleria in Italy, where the drugs were delivered by wanted individuals travelling on board a boat with Tunisian and Moroccan nationals operating in Italy and France.
Three people were initially arrested on board the boat as it was returning to Italy from Pantelleria. Searches were then carried out and a quantity of over 20,000 drug tablets was seized from a clothing workshop in Teboulba.
Nine people have been arrested so far, and the investigation has revealed the involvement of company directors and other foreign parties of Tunisian and other nationalities, reports Mosaïque fm.
Drug use has quintupled among young people!
According to data from a survey published by the National Institute of Health in 2023, drug use has increased fivefold among young people aged 16 to 18… These statistics are not precise and are part of the so-called black figures.
A number of sociologists have warned against laxity at various levels in the school environment, which they believe is the main cause of the spread of drug use among students, and have stressed the need for everyone to redouble their efforts in terms of surveillance in order to protect “the Tunisian school, which has become the prey of petty dealers among delinquents and thugs of all stripes who lie in wait for students outside educational establishments to spread their poisons”.
They considered that the proliferation of drugs in schools had made them more accessible and encouraged pupils to take them, and stressed the danger of leaving pupils on the streets because of a lack of teachers or at off-peak times when they should be at school or with their parents.
There are regular and increasing reports of drug gangs being broken up and large quantities of drugs being seized. With only one drug treatment center in the country, the government is struggling to find adequate solutions to limit the impact of this scourge.
