KUCHING: Newly minted Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Dev Kumar has vowed to eliminate drug problems in Sarawak by first cleaning up the force of the menace.
He has a list of over 80 targeted officers and men all over Sarawak who are on the dope including a small number of men-in blue who are in cahoots with drug traffickers.
Speaking during a handing over of duty by state narcotics head ACP Sahar Abdul Latif to Supt Hasnir Abdul Hamid at the police headquarters here yesterday, Dev said two lance corporals, one from Kuching and another from Samarahan, were arrested in ‘Ops Blue Devil’, a nationwide operation launched on August 13 to get rid of police on drugs or involved in drug-related crimes.
Dev said there would be no more excuses of shortage of manpower in their fight to weed out drug menace.
“My main focus now is getting rid of drug abuse and drug-related crimes that have crept into the interior of Sarawak including longhouses. That is why we need to clean up our own house before we face the battle outside,” he said.
He revealed that the two policemen who tested positive for drugs were currently on remand, pending further tests by the Chemistry Department.
“If the result returns positive, we will charge them and get them off the force. They are innocent until proven guilty,” he added.
He stressed that police personnel on his target list would be flushed out. Police personnel from other units would be roped in to assist districts with manpower shortage so that they could fight the drug menace.
Dev added he was also targeting ‘big fish’ and syndicated drug pushers instead of just arresting small-time abusers. He assured the public that he would conduct periodic checks on his men who were suspected of abusing drugs so that the police could do a proper job in eliminating drug abuse and drug related crimes.
