National Narcotics Control Bureau

Policy and Planning

The goal of National Narcotics Control Bureau is to substantially improve the knowledge base and enhance the coordination and management of drug control activities in order to significantly limit the supply of, as well as the demand for, illicit drugs in the country. NNCB believes that in order to achieve this goal, it needs to work closely with different government agencies, NGOs, development partners, and the civil society, to streamline their work to control drugs. NNCB directs its work towards six strategic directions. These are:

(1) Drug control management and coordination;
(2) Laws, regulations and judicial system;
(3) supply reduction / drug law enforcement;
(4) drug demand reduction;
(5) Illicit drugs and corruption; and
(6) Illicit drugs and money laundering.

NNCB believes that illicit drugs can only be successfully combated if three fundamentals are in place:

1. reliable, comprehensive data and information about all aspects of the problem i.e. the drug abuse situation and the production and trafficking of illicit drugs;

2. sufficient capacity, willingness and determination to successfully plan, initiate, manage, coordinate, evaluate all necessary interventions; and

3. Legal frameworks and a judicial system that is sufficient and capable to govern all interventions.

When those three cornerstones are in place, the next step is to concentrate on the two main areas of drug control:
1. Supply reduction
2. Demand reduction

The Challenge

Illicit drugs are a global impediment to the social and economic development of nations. The impact of the drug scourge has been particularly severe on the Maldives, threatening her prosperity, good health, and indeed her whole future.

In the past decade we have intensified our efforts to stop the drug menace. But we, as a nation, need to do even more to ensure that criminals, who put their own interests before those of the nation, do not take our common heritage away from us.

The lesson we learn from other countries is that drug abuse is a hydra-like multifaceted issue. It requires a balanced well-coordinated multi-sectoral approach, encompassing measures to stop illicit drugs from entering the country and to reduce the demand for them. Both these aspects are equally important and need to be given the same, high priority.

We, therefore, call upon all Maldivians, as indeed the international community, to support fully our efforts to eliminate the scourge of illicit drugs from the Maldives and beyond our borders. This is the challenge and we must commit ourselves to this challenge.