| House approves sharing of drug money with Canada |
| Observer Reporter Wednesday, September 04, 2002 |
THE House of Representatives yesterday approved a decision by national security minister, Peter Phillips to share equally between Jamaica and Canada $9.2 million seized from two convicted drug traffickers by the Canadian government.
Phillips moved a resolution asking the legislature to approve the Sharing of Forfeited Property (Canada) Order, 2002, which he issued in June of this year, the same month that he signed over a portion of the seized assets to representatives of the Canadian government.
Since taking charge of the national security portfolio last November, Phillips has concentrated resources on disrupting the international narcotics trade, which he views as the cause of Jamaica's high level of violent crime.
As part of the strategy to combat drug trafficking, the national security minister has also entered into co-operation agreements with the governments such as Columbia, Britain, Canada and the United States.
"In relation to these amounts we have committed money to support the work of the narcotics division of the police...the work of the National Council on Drug Abuse and the Addiction Alert Organisation who are trying to relieve the plight of persons who may be addicted to illegal drugs," Phillips told the House.