KUCHING: A sustained effort to fight the drug menace saw a total of 122.86kg of compressed drugs and 4,966 pills with an estimated value of more than RM9.78 million being confiscated in the state last year.
Women, Early Childhood, and Community Well-being Development Minister Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah as a result the supply and demand for drugs in Sarawak was curbed.
“The impact of this drug confiscation was able to prevent by 102,799 times the use of drugs and illegal substances and save 10,263 individuals for a period of one month,” she revealed at a press conference here Tuesday (Jan 31).
She said last year a total of 10,237 drug-related arrests were recorded by the authorities in Sarawak, much more than the previous year.
It accounted for an increase of 36.2 per cent compared to the arrests in 2021 which saw 7,516 arrests.
Throughout 2022, she said that a total of 2,711 people were also ordered to undergo treatment and rehabilitation.
Meanwhile, she also revealed that the International Recovery Symposium (IRS) 2023 will be held for the first time in Sarawak at the Imperial Hotel Kuching, between Sept 18-21 this year.
“The IRS is one of the strategic plans to strengthen the effectiveness of the One Stop Committee (OSC) Action Plan to deal with the issue of drug and illicit substance abuse in the state.
“The symposium is expected to draw around 700 individuals, to share good practices in enforcement, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of drug abuse,” she added.
