The perception nowadays is that the drug problem is here to stay and that the only solution for drug addicts is to go and kill themselves. Little do we hear about the extent of the drug problem in Malta – were it not for the non-governmental organisations like Caritas or the drug agency Sedqa, there would be no mention of drugs at all. The political parties no longer make an issue out of the situation and no longer press any red buttons on drug addiction and drug trafficking in Malta. Whereas until 10 or 15 years ago, each political party gained political mileage when condemning the government for failing to win the war on drugs, nowadays it seems that everybody has braced himself for the likelihood that the drug problem is here to stay and that it is like any other problem that exists, be it alcohol or gambling; albeit the latter has been elevated to legality as gambling is no longer considered a vice by the state.
People know where to buy drugs; people know where the drug havens are; youngsters tell their parents that if they want to take drugs they can take them in the middle of the day and they should not be worried if they stay out late at night. People can identify the areas where drug trafficking is rampant: I can mention Fgura, all the people of Fgura know where drugs are sold but it seems that there is a missing link between the community and the police.
It seems that cocaine addicts are always hard to catch and hardly are they ever caught by the Police, and so are the main drug traffickers. I understand that the Police are limited in their resources and that in this fight it is not only the Police that is in charge of enforcement. The income tax people must do their part as well because it is inconceivable for people with limited resources and a fixed wage to be running in the streets with expensive and luxurious cars.
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue has been dragging his feet in introducing a law whereby payments above a certain amount cannot be made in cash. It exists in other European countries including Italy but in Malta it does not. The same law has to apply to bank deposits so that the banks will be precluded from depositing money in excess of a maximum established by law without making the necessary enquiries.
I am afraid that in Malta nobody knows how much ecstasy gets circulated every weekend, although rumour has it that about 80,000 pills are sold weekly in Malta. Neither do we have statistics saying how much cocaine is sold weekly, or how much heroine, for all that matters. This means that nobody knows the extent of the problem in Malta although, again and I repeat, rumour has it that the extent exceeds pro rate the use of drugs by the population of London.
It is a pity that our politicians have failed to continue to hammer on the need to control drug trafficking in Malta: drug trafficking can never be extinguished and it can only be controlled as drugs are with us to stay. It seems that they have given up as well and embraced the fact that if people want to kill themselves they are free to do so and at the same time acknowledging that if people want to get rich out of the drug business they are free to do so as well.
We all heard the news about the suitcase full of cocaine which was left stranded at our airport. None of us can swallow the news that the suitcase does not have a name: in the security era where every suitcase on board has to have a name, this suitcase was checked in by somebody and the airport tag shows that. Now if all the tags have been removed from the suitcase the handling agent can by trial and error get to know the owner of this suitcase.
The question remains as to whether the tags have been removed at Malta International Airport or overseas: and if all fingers point at MIA it means that at MIA there are criminals who work for criminals, and who are earning good money not from their salary, but from their links with criminality. It will not be amiss if the MIA would look into the lifestyles of some of these people.
People wonder why the luggage was left there: some say that it could either mean that its owner was new to the drug business and was reported to the authorities and had contacts in there so that all identification labels were removed; others say that the owner of the luggage got to know that the authorities have been tipped about the contents of the luggage, meaning that he had a source from within and another source at MIA who helped him by removing the identification tags. I hope that the case of the unclaimed luggage will not end there but that there will be deeper investigations: the first ones starting by MIA.
It is the responsibility of MIA to take the matter up with the airline because the security of the passengers is with the airline. God forbid that suitcase was carrying a bomb; that means the airline concerned does not take our security seriously and the public must know what airline are we dealing with. It is not fair for us to be kept in the dark about this and find ourselves on an airline which does not ensure that the safety of the passengers come first.
We do not know what internal or external enquiries were opened; however the matter does not only call for a magisterial enquiry but also for an internal investigation at MIA and an independent investigation by the government because after all, we are dealing with human beings and it was only providence that that suitcase carried drugs and not explosives.
Malta has become a drug haven and it seems that there is little co-ordination between the district police, the drug squad and the local councils. The district police are inundated with work and are not happy to be confronted with drug crimes as these investigations need hard work and they do not have time for all this.
The people are frustrated because if they report to the district police, more often than not they are told that there is only one policeman at the police station and he cannot leave his place of work, or that the police have no car to come on the spot. All this is making the public helpless and joining in the chorus of our politicians who have rubbed off altogether the drug problem from their agenda.
In the meantime we wait and see hoping that the authorities will take the matter very, very seriously.
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The political parties no longer make an issue out of the situation and no longer press any red buttons on drug addiction and drug trafficking in Malta. Whereas until 10 or 15 years ago, each political party gained political mileage when condemning the government for failing to win the war on drugs, nowadays it seems that everybody has braced himself for the likelihood that the drug problem is here to stay and that it is like any other problem that exists, be it alcohol or gambling; albeit the latter has been elevated to legality as gambling is no longer considered a vice by the state.