Kayihura Declares War on Narcotic Drugs, Police to Set Up Special Squad

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Gen Kale Kayihura has revealed that Police is planning to form a specialized unit tasked to counter the use of narcotic drugs which he said has become a threat.

The revelation was made on Tuesday at a news conference where Kayihura and a team of forensic scientists announced the findings in the investigation into the mysterious deaths of two foreign nationals at Sheraton Hotel and Pearl of Africa Hotel in Kampala which occurred weeks ago.

Alex Nordlarndar Sebastien Andreas, a 41-year-old Swedish national died on February 5 in his hotel room at Sheraton Hotel while Terasvouri Tuomas Juha Petteri, 42, from Finland was also discovered dead in his room at Pearl of Africa Hotel the next day.

According to the results from the tests conducted on their body samples including stomach contents, bile, urine, liver and blood, scientists confirmed that the two died due to drug intoxication.

The toxicology results indicated that samples tested positive of sedatives and drugs including narcotics, morphin, cocaine, diazepine which if taken in large amounts could lead to depression or comma.

It is these findings that have now led IGP Kayihura to declare war on those selling narcotics as well as those consuming them.

“We must focus on these drugs and how the two [Andreas and Petteri] accessed them. Was it planned or accidental?” Kayihura told journalists at the news conference held at the Naguru police headquarters.

He added that; “If we are to get to the bottom of this, we must ask ourselves whether it was a coincidence, because the people involved were not related”.

“The substances in both cases are the same, implying that they could have come from the same source,” the IGP said.

He wondered why intoxicating substances such as Kuber were readily available in supermarkets, saying that this “laxity” must be addressed.

“We are setting up a special squad for drugs. We can’t continue having this problem. It’s a fight we might fight like we have done with terrorism,” he said.

Kayihura said that drug use is not just a criminal act, but it also attracts a serious sentence for those found culpable.

He said that in the attempts by drug dealers to increase their quantities, they are resorting to mixing drugs like cocaine with some other substances that he said are very dangerous.