Qatar- Internet becomes 'supermarket' of illicit drugs

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The internet has been turned by criminals into a 'supermarket' of illicit drugs bought using virtual currencies and sold over mobile applications, Interpol secretary general Jurgen Stock told the First Qatar International Anti-Drug Forum which opened here yesterday.

Prime Minister and Interior Minister H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani opened the forum at the Doha Sheraton under the theme "International experience in the detection of trafficking routes, itineraries and methods of concealment".

The increasing movement of goods and people combined with the diverse range of illicit drugs, means police and border officials are dealing with multiple facets of the drug trade, Stock told the conference.

"Convergence on the ground between producer, transit and consumer countries, together with the individualisation of the international drug trade in cyberspace, are key challenges for police against drug trafficking," he said.

He added that a covert area of the web, known as the Darknet, not only acts as an online forum for illicit drug transactions, but generates widespread knowledge transfer among likeminded individuals.

Stock also pointed to the rise and diversity of synthetic drugs and their manufacture - often using legal precursors - presenting a challenge for both legislation and law enforcement to identify, recognize and suppress.

"To address these challenges, the international community's model which prioritises border security, information sharing, training and capacity building should still apply, but the discussion needs to be much more sophisticated," said Stock.

Commending Qatar's role in collective efforts to combat drug trafficking and other forms of transnational crime, Stock said, international police cooperation was the focus of a meeting on the sidelines of the forum between him and the Prime Minister.

High-level international figures in the anti-drug trafficking field and delegates from over 22 countries and regional and international bodies and organizations are attending the two-day forum.

Addressing the event, Director-General of Public Security and Chairman of the Permanent Committee for Drugs and Alcohol Affairs Staff Maj. Gen. Saad bin Jassim Al Khulaifi stressed the keenness of Qatar to enhance cooperation and keep up with the latest developments related to drugs and psychotropic substances in all its forms through the ratification and working on the basis of anti-drug conventions.

In this context, Qatar developed an anti-drug national strategy which absorbed all the dimensions of the drug problem and its multiple dangers, Al Khulaifi added.

He pointed out that globalisation and the great openness between world countries in all fields, as well as the growing technological development in the means of communication and transportation have had a positive effect on the lifestyle at the moment. However, he cautioned that drug trafficking gangs took advantage of this tremendous development in the implementation of their goals related to the production, promotion and smuggling of narcotic materials through the use of modern means.

Yuri Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said that the ongoing discussions have highlighted the importance of having a comprehensive balanced mechanism that will focus on treating the drug problem, both in the production phase or smuggling stage, according to international conventions and human rights agreements.

The Doha Declaration has emphasized on this issue, as all member states will spend maximum efforts on the basis of common principles and responsibilities to find a comprehensive and balanced approach based on local, regional and international cooperation and coordination between various security agencies to combat criminal gangs responsible for the production and drug trafficking process, he added.

"We are in the context of enhancing the international efforts in the field of drug trafficking prevention as we are trying to build a network through many initiatives and projects such as Geneva initiative which attempts to build strong partnership between INTERPOL, Europol and JICICI etc. The international expertise and experience from such meetings are considered as an important part in the context of strengthening partnerships and we try to learn from the experts. So, we welcome your recommendations for activating the mechanism based on cooperation for responding to the problems of the drug," said Fedotov.

The first day of the Forum discussed the topic 'The relation between drug trafficking and terrorist organizations at Arab and international levels' presented by Dr. Salih Al Saad and 'The new trends in the field of drug and how to combat it' presented by Lt. Col. Ibrahim Al Subaih.

The third paper on 'Modern technologies and challenges of drug enforcement' was presented by Dr. Abdullah Al Othaibi. Other papers of the first day were 'The Kuwaiti experience in detecting the methods of drug trafficking and concealing' by Lt. Gen. Abdullah Jassim bin Naji, 'The technologies used in Dubai Customs for combating drug' by Muhammed Misbah Dhahi , 'The Turkish experience in controlling the drug trafficking' by Hakan Demirbuken and 'The creative national cooperation among agencies concerned with drug enforcement' by Maj. Gen. Ghalib Qassim Al Sarayirah.