Sudan establishes anti-drug smuggling camps on South Sudan border
June 8, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese authorities Wednesday have opened two advanced camps to combat commodity and illegal drugs smuggling along the border with South Sudan.
Mustafa said these camps aim to stop the smuggling of the illegal drugs and the harmful foodstuff, pointing the camps would also assist the security organs to maintain security and stability on the border with South Sudan.
He added that the camps will be equipped with well-trained personnel and the appropriate vehicles to carry out its task along the 160 kilometers border area.
For his part, the director of the White Nile state police Ghorashi Salih stressed the importance of these advanced camps to protect the border and maintain the community security.
He pointed the camps would also help the security organs impose security and stability, stressing that the Counter-Narcotics Department continued to carry out its tasks fully and was praised by the White Nile governor and the security committee in the state.
Imad al-Din Mohamed, the director of the Counter-Narcotics Department at the Sudanese Customs Authority in the White Nile state, pointed that one of the camps is located at Al-Magabi area in the locality of Al-Gabalein while the other is located at Al-Akaf area in the locality of Al-Salam.
He pointed that these camps would serve political, security and economic objectives, saying the move comes within the framework of the Sudanese Customs Authority strategy to develop ways to combat smuggling and to keep up with the development and construction boom taking place in the White Nile state.
Sudan shares a border of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) with South Sudan.
Smuggling goods from Sudan into South Sudan became increasingly risky after a short border conflict in April 2012, with Khartoum warning that anyone caught taking goods across the border could be shot.
South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.
Relations between the two nations soured after South Sudan’s independence following a series of disputes over a number of issues.
On Sunday, the two countries signed a series of security agreements, including immediate re-deployment of joint military forces along the Safe Demilitarized Border Zone (SDBZ), and approved a plan to stop supporting and harbouring rebels as well as open the crossings points.
(ST)