Hamas cracks down on Gaza drugs
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Up in smoke

Hamas cracks down on Gaza drugs

Authorities say drug use has grown among the Strip’s 2 million residents as people look for an escape from harsh living conditions, soaring unemployment and travel restrictions

By Agencies 23 October 2018, 3:33 am 0 Edit
Hamas security forces stand guard while they burn some 1,383 bars of hashish and 1,242,000 pills of Tramadol, that have been seized since the beginning of the year, in Gaza City, Oct. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
Hamas security forces stand guard while they burn some 1,383 bars of hashish and 1,242,000 pills of Tramadol, that have been seized since the beginning of the year, in Gaza City, Oct. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Hamas authorities have been burning piles of narcotics and cannabis in a yearly sweep against drugs in the beleaguered Gaza Strip.

Officers in military fatigues on Monday poured gasoline and set alight more than 1 million tablets of opioid painkiller tramadol, about 1,500 slabs of hashish and 900 grams of opium.

With residents suffering under a decade-long Israeli-Egyptian blockade since the terrorist group Hamas took power, authorities say drug use has grown among Gaza’s 2 million residents as people look for an escape from harsh living conditions, soaring unemployment and travel restrictions. Israel imposes the blockade to prevent Hamas, which seeks to destroy Israel, from importing weaponry.

Hamas says it is fighting the endemic relentlessly. On Monday, it sentenced 17 people convicted of drug trafficking to hard labor prison terms of 10 years to life.

Last year, Hamas legislators endorsed the death penalty to curb drugs.

Hamas security forces prepare to burn some 1,383 bars of hashish and 1,242,000 pills of Tramadol, that have been seized since the beginning of the year, in Gaza City, Oct. 22, 2018. (AP Photo/Adel Hana)
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