It advised that the country’s Anti Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU), judged too rotten to reform, be dismantled. In 2018, a state-appointed commission of inquiry found clear evidence of mafia influence over a variety of actors, including police, prison guards, lawyers, customs officials and politicians. “Someone on the inside is giving them the information,” says Claudine. Often, lookouts receive advance notice of police visits, sometimes as long as two hours. They earn 1,500-2,000 rupees ($34-45) per day, a relatively lucrative pay packet in a country where many struggle on a minimum wage of 15,000 rupees ($340) a month in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. The name of the latter drug and the description of its effects appear to tally with recent reports of animal tranquilliser xylazine arriving in neighbouring Reunion. Earlier this year, she stumbled upon a dead man on the street, whom she believes overdosed on heroin.Ĭlaudine, another one of the women, says crystal meth and a new product called “ladrog zombi” (“zombie drug”), which renders users comatose, are becoming more prevalent on the market. “Ena zanfan inn fini andan,” she says, in Creole – “there are kids whose insides are destroyed”. Life here is tough, says Marie, who washes clothes for a living and notes that many kids don’t go to school, some starting on drugs as early as age 10. They spoke using pseudonyms while stressing that they were sick of seeing their young being destroyed by drugs. Looking around the tiny enclave, a ramshackle cluster of raw concrete and rusting corrugated iron shacks deep within the impoverished suburb of Roche Bois, it’s hard to believe such large sums transit through here.Īl Jazeera met three local women in Karo Kalyptus. This is the epicentre of the island’s narco scene, an area targeted last July in a meticulously-planned police raid that hauled 77 million Mauritian rupees (more than $1.7m) worth of cannabis, synthetics and heroin. In Karo Kalyptus, the impact of the fast-growing drugs trade is easy to see. ‘Today, drugs are the country’s number one problem,’ says Mario Ah-Sian, director of the Centre d’Accueil de Terre Rouge Epicentre Like many others Al Jazeera spoke to, he believes the real figures are much higher. Drugs have wreaked havoc all over the island, sparking a wave of robberies and assaults, he says.Īccording to a 2021 official survey, around 55,000 people between the ages of 18 and 59 (7.4 percent of that tranche of the population) consume non-injectable drugs, including cannabis, synthetics and heroin ingested by sniffing, snorting or smoking.Ĭalculations were based on small samples rather than boots-on-the-ground fieldwork, says Ah-Sian. The 63-year-old quit heroin 23 years ago and has since devoted his life to helping others free themselves from the affliction. “Today, drugs are the country’s number one problem,” says Mario Ah-Sian, director of the Centre d’Accueil de Terre Rouge, another treatment centre located a few kilometres from Port Louis. Schoolkids club together to buy a hit for 100 Mauritian rupees ($2), he says. ![]() “The advantage of synthetics is that they are cheap,” says Imran Dhanoo, director of the centre. In parallel, synthetics have taken hold – drugs like “Black Mamba”, “Rambo” and “Murder” made with chemicals from China, which are mixed with thinner or pesticides and sprayed onto tea, tobacco or herbs, providing highly toxic hits to youngsters. Heroin addiction, which peaked in the ‘90s, has made a roaring comeback in the country, the drug rerouted to its shores through Madagascar on its journey from Afghanistan to East and Southern Africa. He still visits weekly for counseling and is a rare success story on this tiny island of 1.3 million people being ravaged by a drug epidemic of unprecedented proportions. Eventually, he found his way to the Idrice Goomany Treatment Centre, located in the heart of Port Louis, where he completed an intensive six-month detox programme. But after two weeks of quitting drug use, he relapsed. In the grip of addiction for a few months, Gaetan realised he had to get out fast. His fellow addicts at work would strip copper wires or lift corrugated iron and white goods off the streets, selling the metal to fund their habit – a common practice in the city. Soon he was dipping into his hard-earned savings to find the 2,000 Mauritian rupees ($45) he needed for his four daily doses. “That one decision cost me dearly,” he tells Al Jazeera. ![]() Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Wave of attacks in Mexico leave 22 dead in one day list 2 of 4 Banana fortune heir Daniel Noboa claims victory in Ecuador election list 3 of 4 Colombians held over Ecuador presidential candidate’s murder slain in jail list 4 of 4 Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 591 end of list
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