16:28,

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has called on law enforcement agencies to develop a strategy to deal with drug trafficking. 

“We have an increase in the cases concerning drug trafficking, but which also means an increase in the number of [drug busts],” Pahsinyan told law enforcement officials during a meeting at the Ministry of Internal Affairs regarding the 2023 report.

“Of course, the function of the police and investigative bodies is to reveal [the crime], but we must first of all have a strategy on how to deal with this problem of crime and relations using new technologies in the cyberspace,” Pashinyan said, referring to the notorious practice of drug dealers selling narcotics through social media channels, particularly Telegram, which is difficult to trace.

“Second of all, an interdepartmental task force dealing with the issue must be created, in order for them to have a team responsibility in some sense. Next, I attach a lot of importance to the development of the K-9 units in this regard. And we must urgently move forward with this complex approach,” he added.