16/09/2007 00:00:00
Algeria: 2,687 cannabis plants seized, wars of farmers
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A total of 2,687 cannabis plants of 659 kg and 290 grams of seeds were
seized in Bejaia (350 lm east of Algiers) during the month of August.
In Tizi Ouakdal village in Bejaia, all cannabis consumers were waiting
for new harvest. A man has notified the National Gendarmerie of a
cannabis field.
“We knew that cannabis consumers were suffering from a shortage of
cannabis and they were waiting for the new harvest to revive market. A
trustful citizen from the region let us know about a field of cannabis.
Once this information was confirmed, we launched an operation to seize
the cannabis plants,” Colonel Lazrag Ada told Echorouk.
In a first operation, 538 cannabis plants of 2 quintals and 2 kg were
found. Since then, cannabis fields have been discovered one by one.
The last one was in Titrit valley (Bejaia) where 1043 cannabis plants
were found out. According to Colonel Lazrag Ada, fierce competition
between cannabis farmers is behind the growing number of cannabis fields
in Bejaia.
“We received many phone calls from identified people who gave us
information about cannabis fields,” he said.
“We later realized that this information came from cannabis farmers
themselves. They wanted their competitors’ harvests,” he added.
Residents show cooperation with the National Gendarmerie in their fight
against cannabis.
“Residents have the intention to cooperate with us and it this
cooperation is increasing with time,” said Colonel Dramchia.
“Citizens feel proud of themselves when they see the information they
give are concretised. They feel that they contribute to fix something,”
he added.
Cannabis farmers have also burnt and stolen some of their competitors’
harvests. According to forests department, two fires occurred in Touja
village (Bejaia) in summer. It is believed that a cannabis farmer is
behind the fire to damage his competitor’s harvest.
Although the National Gendarmerie forces have seized big quantities of
cannabis in Touja village, only one suspect was arrested and another one
is on the run.
The only reason in this is that the farmers cultivate cannabis in
state-owned lands; which means that there is no legal responsibility.
“We have non-sure information about some farmers but we don’t have
evidence to arrest them,” said the Colonel.
“Most of the lands we discovered are state-owned ones,” he added.
On the other hand, Touja’s mayor said residents have nothing to do with
the cannabis cultivation. He believes that people outside from the
region are behind that.
http://www.echoroukonline.com/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=12834
Author:
Echorouk Al Yaoumi via UKCIA
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