School Children As Young As 12 Are Being Paid RM10 To Become Drug Pushers
State National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA) director Mohammad Nazer Mustafa also revealed that 75% of drug abusers in Kedah are between the ages of 19 and 39.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 28 Dec 2016, 03:38 PM
School children as young as 12 are being used as drug pushers, said State National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA) director Mohammad Nazer Mustafa
State National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA) director Mohammad Nazer Mustafa
Image via NST/Sharul Hafiz ZamNazer made this statement after distributing school bags to students from needy families at SK Haji Salleh Masri in Kuala Kedah yesterday, 27 December, as reported by NST.
According to Nazer, information from the authorities show that drug dealers have been penetrating schools to expand their drug "businesses" by using students below the age of 18 to become their drug pushers.
These students get paid around RM10 to RM50 to peddle drugs to their peers.
The reason behind this, Nazer said, lies with the fact that most teenagers between the ages of 12 and 18 are still young, "immature", and "ignorant" to the ills of the world, making them the perfect targets for this heinous industry.
"Drug trafficking syndicates are said to offer between RM10 and RM50 to each student to become their pushers," added Nazer, as reported by NST yesterday.
Things are also made easier for the drug traffickers as these children will be categorised as juveniles - meaning they may not face any heavy penalty for their offences
Meanwhile, he said NADA's survey shows that the overall number of students who have been identified as drug pushers have dropped from 374 in 2015 to 334 this year.
However, the survey also revealed a worrying piece of information - the number of students consuming syabu has increased by 10% over the year.
"Based on our study, eight out of ten students who are doing drugs in Kedah, are taking syabu," said Nazer.
Syabu is a slang for crystal meth (methamphetamine) which is commonly used as a recreational drug for its euphoriant and stimulating effects.
Nazer also mentioned that Kedah has recorded the highest number of drug abusers with a total of 6,413 cases compared to over 5,000 people in 2015. Sadly, 75% of these people are between the ages of 19 and 39.
Some of the places in Kedah with the highest number of drug abuse cases are Kuala Kedah, Kuala Muda, Kubang Pasu and Baling.