TMID Editorial: A good day for the police

The Malta Police Force issued a statement this week, in which it said that 146kg of drugs, believed to be cocaine, were seized.The seizure occurred at the Freeport, a statement by the police read. 146kgs is no small amount, and the estimated street v

By: independent.com.mt

Nov 16 2024
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TMID Editorial: A good day for

The Malta Police Force issued a statement this week, in which it said that 146kg of drugs, believed to be cocaine, were seized.

The seizure occurred at the Freeport, a statement by the police read. 146kgs is no small amount, and the estimated street value, the police said, is €20 million.

Two people were arraigned in court over the bust. The court case will now take its due course, and the courts will determine their innocence or guilt.

It was a good day's work for the police, but the job of the police is undoubtedly not yet over. As said, this is no small amount of drugs. An investigation would hopefully be ongoing to uncover the ring responsible, and one hopes that all those guilty are caught and jailed. The police said that the drug shipment itself came from Guayaquil in Equador. There is, at least, a trail to follow.

Drugs are used to feed the underbelly of crime, and the selling of drugs would also lead to other crimes, like money laundering. The police will need to investigate and uncover the network behind this importation.

There have been other drug finds in the past at the Freeport, but generally those drugs were intercepted on route to other destinations. For example, in 2022 Maltese customs officials seized a record-breaking 1.5 tonnes of cocaine stashed in a container that was transporting bananas from Colombia to Slovenia. That, too, was a good day's work by the police force.

Drug addiction is a serious illness, and one that is not easy to get out of and which ruins lives. Those who sell illegal drugs must be put behind bars.

There are organisations that help drug users to kick their habits. Caritas is one such organisation, and it does fantastic work. It has helped many people get back on their feet. Drug addiction not only ruins the lives of the addicts themselves, but also those of their families. The organisation also offers support to youths, as well as to prison inmates through a programme.

TVM had published an article about a man who had passed through drug addiction, and sought help from Caritas. In the article, he described his addiction. "Today it's coke, the next day speed, then pills. I was always experimenting, but then it consumed me and took everything I had. My advice to young people is not to try it, because you can forgot about thinking that you can control it." Its a simple yet strong message, it's not worth trying. He went on to say: "three years ago I asked for help, I went home and said, 'Ma, I want to do something with my life' and from that day I never stopped, I kept working on myself."

There are programmes out there to help addicts kick the habit, and anyone who needs support should seek help immediately.