Chairperson, all our officers are trained on how to handle issues of drugs in our country because if you don't do that you have a problem of police officers coming across drugs, but because they are not trained they are not able to deal with the situation. I think one of the issues is that if police are not ready to do that they are able to cordon off the area and then call the necessary expertise to come and comb the area.
So, we have police officers who are specialising in matters of drugs. But not only that, we also have them in the area of information gathering because the drug problem in the Western Cape is something for which you need to set up special task teams in order to deal with it and that is what we are doing. Hence, we are seeing a successful process in retrieving drugs in various areas, including the different laboratories which you find throughout South Africa.
Also, the success in dealing with the issue of tik in the Western Cape is currently rocketing. Unfortunately it is an issue which cannot be a police matter alone. We need communities to help us because these issues happen and drugs are being smuggled within communities. Members of communities are the ones who understand who is a drug-lord, who buys, who sells.
All that kind of information you find within the communities. So, participation by communities in giving information to the police is very critical for us to have a successful operation within the Western Cape.