Namibia's drug crisis

The three most commonly seized drugs in Namibia are crack, mandrax and marijuana. During the period 2012 to 2015 a total of 2 525 units of crack were seized in the country, 8 346 tablets of mandrax and 805kg of marijuana. This is according to statistics compiled in the 2017 World Drug Report which states that in 2015, about a quarter of a billion people globally used drugs. During the period between 2012 to 2015 a total of 3.53kg of cocaine salts were seized in Namibia, 392 capsules of ecstasy, 482 grams of tik, 37 straws of meth, 75 tablets of LSD and 20.2 ton of ephedrine. Speaking to Namibian Sun, the retired head of the Namibian Police drug squad, Deputy Commissioner Hermie van Zyl, said in his experience the amounts seized in some cases appeared to be a bit low. According to Van Zyl, cannabis is still the drug that is most common in Namibia, while the the Khomas, Erongo and Oshana regions are the three top regions in Namibia where drugs are the most popular. Income levelsVan Zyl says that because it is so cheap, cannabis is a popular drug among many users. “It is actually your drug for the poorer people and the beginner drug for many.”He says the type of drug a person uses depends on their status and income level. Van Zyl said after cannabis, crack cocaine and mandrax are also popular in Namibia followed by ecstasy. These are mostly found in Windhoek, Swakopmund and in the north. “But ecstasy is more of a party drug and then you will get a little bit of LSD. That is the drug that makes you hallucinate, makes you see things and makes you think you can crawl through keyholes.” According to Van Zyl one can pay as much as N$500 for a gram of cocaine with which you can cut about three or four lines. “But for a heavy user that is nothing and will not last long.”He says crack cocaine is also known as the “eat some more” drug because the crack is smoked. “There are some people that can spend N$20 000 to N$30 000 in one weekend to smoke crack. This while one rock as big as a match head costs N$100.”He says mostly cannabis is smuggled into Namibia from Lesotho and South Africa and also at Rundu via Angola. Hidden in orangesMeanwhile, cocaine comes from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo in Brazil via South Africa. He says the cocaine comes from Latin America and Brazil is only the transit route. According to him ecstasy comes from Europe via South Africa and LSD from Johannesburg and Cape Town. He says a popular way to smuggle in cannabis is by using commercial trucks and thus, customs officials at border posts have been trained to look out for the newest methods drug smugglers may be using. Van Zyl says cocaine can be hidden in women's shoes, in sweets and even in fruit. “They can hollow out an orange and hide the cocaine in the fruit.” He says then there is the swallowing of bullets which mostly men do. Meanwhile, Van Zyl says although there are no official statistics and information available on the drug use in Namibia, it is a huge problem in the country. “This I know from what drug users and sellers have told me.”He said one of the reasons that there is no information on drug use is because of the lack of rehabilitation facilities in Namibia. According to him there is only on rehabilitation facility outside Brakwater that can take 12 people for a period of 12 months. “The lack of government facilities in Namibia is a huge problem. The ministry always has excuses not to build rehabs. We have no benchmark for drug use.” According to the report around 29.5 million people - or 0.6% of the global adult population - were engaged in problematic drug use and suffered from drug use disorders, including dependence. Opioids were the most harmful drug type and accounted for 70% of the negative health impact associated with drug use disorders worldwide.In 2014, transnational organised crime groups across the globe were estimated to have generated between one fifth and one third of their revenues from drug sales. Mobile communications offers new opportunities to traffickers, while the darknet allows users to anonymously buy drugs with a crypto-currency. While drug trafficking over the darknet remains small, there has been an increase in drug transactions of roughly 50% annually between September 2013 and January 2016, according to one study. The spectrum of substances available on the drug market has widened considerably, the report says. The opioid market in particular is becoming more diversified, with a combination of internationally controlled substances like heroin and prescription medicines that are either diverted from the legal market or produced as counterfeit medicines. ELLANIE SMIT

Namibia's drug crisis

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-21

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Namibia's drug crisis

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Namibian Sun 2025-10-21

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