Task force to ‘destroy’ South Darfur cannabis farms

The Sudanese Ministry of Interior has deployed two paramilitary battalions and a cargo plane to destroy 13,600 kilometres of cannabis farms in El Radoom locality in South Darfur.

The battalions consist of Sudan’s Central Reserve Police, known as Abu Tira, and anti-narcotics forces. Besides the Antonov plane, two unmanned planes will set out to search for cannabis farms in El Radoom.

Maj. Gen. Mohamed Abdallah Ahmed El Naim, the head of the General Office for Combating Drug, announced the measures in a press statement on Monday. “The forces are equipped and advanced in combat as well as on how to exterminate and burn cannabis farms.

“Cannabis should not reach the minds of young people,” El Naim said. The campaign is planned to take place within the geographical area of El Radoom conservatory.

The cultivation area for cannabis in El Radoom represent at least 30,000 square kilometres. Most of the cannabis in Sudan is cultivated in this locality, said the General Office for Combating Drugs in Khartoum in July 2016.

Sudan is the largest producer of cannabis in Africa, according to the office. The drug trade in Sudan exceeded $7 billion between 2015 and 2016, while the use of cannabis grew by 34 per cent.