How did the drug "Shabu" invade Yemen? Who is behind its spread? (private file)

The phenomenon of abuse of the narcotic substance "Shabu" has spread recently, which has invaded a number of Yemeni governorates, and has been promoted in a hidden (secret) but frightening manner, with a clear intention by drug traffickers to find a new market for them in the region, after it has invaded... Almost most of the Arab countries..!!

This phenomenon, which is described by security specialists as an “emergency” to Yemeni society, was not widespread before, but it spread suddenly. Then, within a short period of time, it emerged and expanded in a very frightening manner, with some attributing it to the recent increase in the deterioration in living conditions. And security, both, in the country devastated by war.

It is certain that this war, which was ignited by the Houthi militias since their coup against state institutions in September 2014, has played a major role in facilitating the entry and promotion of drugs, for many reasons, as we will know in this expanded file that deals with the details of the phenomenon from various aspects, Most of them were not addressed in previous reports, despite the phenomenon that has received widespread media attention over the past few days.

In its information, Yemen Shabab Net relies on direct main sources, including a specialized security official in the Anti-Narcotics Department at the Ministry of Interior, and a specialized academic working in the Supreme Authority for Drugs in Taiz, in addition to specialized official reports, figures and statistics from government security officials.

The beginning of the appearance

In confirmation of what we mentioned above, the Deputy Director General of the Narcotics Control Department at the Yemeni Ministry of Interior, Colonel Abdullah Ahmed Lahmdi, says, “Yemen, until three years ago, did not know of any existence of the narcotic substance Shabu... so this type of drug began to appear at the beginning of The year 2019.

As for the main reason for the beginning of the spread of this narcotic substance in Yemen, it is due - as Hamdi says - to “expatriates, who are deported from neighboring countries, including the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, due to drug issues.”

In this way, Yemen gradually transformed from a mere “transit” area into one of the alternative markets for the drug mafia, after people who used drugs were found there.

To further clarify this point, Colonel Hamdi says, “The mafia and drug gangs always seek to find new markets to flood them with types of drugs, and this is what actually happened when this scourge became in demand inside Yemen.” The beginning was, of course, by some expatriates who were deported and returned to the country, only to later create their own market by creating a demand for the narcotic substance Shabu..!!

This is what was revealed by investigations with a number of those who were arrested on charges of selling, promoting, or using drugs, including Shabu, according to what Colonel Hamdi confirmed to “Yemen Shabab Net,” who stated that the investigations revealed that a number of them were deported expatriates, as “it turned out They abused different types of drugs, unlike in Yemen,” adding: “After their deportation, they created a demand for the narcotic substance Shabu in Yemen, and then its spread expanded due to the presence of relatives and friends of these expatriates, who were able to convince them to try it.”

Regarding this last point in particular, Colonel Hamdi mentions a psychological reason, which I consider to be one of the main reasons for the spread of the narcotic substance Shabu. He - as he says - there is a “misconception among users that it increases sexual ability,” adding: “In reality, it may actually have an effect in stimulating blood circulation, but as days pass, it becomes completely the opposite effect, and it cools the reproductive system.” ".


Exaggerated exaggeration

However, the senior official in the Narcotics Control Department at the Ministry of Interior and the Hadhramaut Coast believes that there is exaggeration and “great exaggeration” in highlighting the dangers of Shabu and not other types of drugs, including saying that Shabu users “are addicted to it from the beginning.” once, and it cannot be cured.”

Although this exaggeration - as he says - may serve them in making citizens avoid using this substance, “as a matter of scientific fact, Shabu has negative effects similar to other types of drugs,” noting - in this regard - that he made visits to Al-Noha Center for Addiction Treatment in Hadramaut Governorate, and he personally examined a number of cases, the causes of their addiction, and their treatment.

He added: “We also have about 93 prisoners in the anti-narcotics prison on the coast of Hadhramaut, most of whom have taken the narcotic substance Shabu, but we have not seen any significant effects of hysterical cases as a result of their cessation of taking this drug, except for very small numbers, and we do not find any significant suffering.” in dealing with them.”

However, as Hamdi points out, “this does not mean that Shabu does not have a destructive nature on humans,” as much as he believes that “the matter needs scientific study and specialized research in this aspect.”

The least common among drugs

Despite its rapid spread, as indicated by information circulating in the media, especially social media platforms, “Shabu” still - until now - ranks third in terms of the most widespread types of drugs in Yemen. It comes after "Captagon", which ranks second, while the narcotic cannabis substance ranks first, in terms of prevalence and abuse, among the most widespread narcotic substances in Yemen.

This distribution was mentioned by Colonel Hamdi in his interview with "Yemen Shabab Net", who also indicated the presence of rare cases of cocaine, citing the latest shipment that was recently seized in the city of Aden, which was headed to neighboring countries.

In addition to this, Colonel Abdullah Hamdi mentioned other strange cases of addiction to medical substances not classified as drugs, noting that “cases addicted to taking tranquilizer tablets containing Valium and Prozalam, and other tranquilizers sold directly in pharmacies, without A prescription from a doctor, usually. These substances, “although they are not classified as drugs, may lead to addiction to the drug Shabu,” he said.

In confirmation of what he argued about the effect of some of these substances on their addicts, he pointed out that a number of crimes committed in previous periods “the main reason for which was addiction to these tranquilizing pills with khat, or with hashish.” Including “those crimes that reached... To kill relatives, or harass them, in a number of Yemeni governorates.

It is noteworthy that crimes of this type, referred to, have spread widely in the country, especially recently, with the spread of the narcotic substance Shabu, which is attributed to its user losing control over his natural behavior after a short period of addiction.


“Iran” is the first source

When drugs are mentioned, in the Middle East, the Islamic Republic of Iran stands out at the forefront of countries working on manufacturing and exporting various types of drugs, led by the three most widespread types in Yemen: hashish, Captagon, and shabu, in addition to more internationally famous drugs such as heroin and cocaine, which are imported. Most of them are from Afghanistan and East Asian countries.

Hezbollah, Tehran's arm in Lebanon, also stands out, which is the most famous in the region for cultivating and exporting narcotic hashish. Recently, Syria, which became part of Iran, became one of the largest countries manufacturing and exporting the anesthetic Captagon.

In a previous report, issued in 2020 by the German “Auditor Online” website, it warned that “the security and stability of the region are in danger due to the continued development of drug trade and drug trafficking by Iran and its arms.”

In confirmation of this, the Deputy Director of the Narcotics Control Department of the Yemeni Ministry of Interior, Colonel Abdullah Hamdi, says: “According to the materials that have been seized, so far, of Shabu in the Arabian Sea - especially from the direction of Al-Mahra Governorate - we discovered that it comes from the State of Iran, and other countries.” East Asia".

In mid-May, the US Navy announced that it had confiscated 640 kilograms of methamphetamine (the scientific name for the narcotic substance Shabu), worth $39 million, from a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Oman, in the period from May 15 to 16. It indicated in the statement that the ship's nine crew members identified themselves as Iranian citizens

The statement stated that the joint naval forces (present along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman) carried out nine successful seizures during the last period of 2022, of drugs that included heroin, methamphetamine (Shabu), amphetamine pills (Captagon) and hashish, with a total value of $130 million.

Colonel Hamdi explained, “There are international and local mafia gangs involved in the promotion and sale of drugs in Yemen, including Shabu, whether in areas of the legitimate government or in areas under the control of the Houthi militias, which information indicates are involved in the promotion and sale of drugs in Yemen through... Smugglers and dealers follow it, in addition to smuggling shipments of these drugs to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” This is something that Iran's other arms in the region are doing, as more than one officially announced seizure operation has proven the confiscation of drugs coming from Syria and Lebanon to Saudi Arabia and the UAE as well.

Last Saturday, the Yemeni Minister of Interior, Major General Ibrahim Haidan, said in statements on the occasion of World Anti-Drug Day (June 26), that “the Iranian Houthi coup militias are the other side of the drug scourge, which represents an imminent danger to Yemen and the Yemenis and to security and stability in the region and the region.” .

Haidan accused "the Houthi militias, and behind them Iran" of using and trading drugs "in order to finance their absurd war on Yemen and the Yemenis, as the Houthi militia, with direct support from Tehran, worked to flood our homeland and neighboring countries with drugs."

For more:

5 tons were seized and destroyed during the past year . . Minister of Interior: The Houthi militia is working to flood Yemen with "drugs" with Iranian support

In addition, Colonel Abdullah Hamdi, in his interview with “Yemen Shabab Net”, believes that “there are indications of the existence of local factories inside Yemen for the manufacture of Shabu,” explaining that “through research during the investigation with those arrested, it became clear to them that factories may exist.” In Hadhramaut and Hodeidah governorates, but he said that these are just suspicions and no shbu factory has been seized so far.

In this regard, he points out that they stormed some dens for selling and promoting shabu on the coast of Hadhramaut, “and we seized certain chemical materials and compounds, but we were not able to prove whether there were factories or not? This is due to the lack of capabilities to examine such materials and compounds.”

But he also pointed out that there is other evidence that suggests the existence of factories in fact, which is “the gradual decline in the price of Shabu,” pointing out that “at the beginning of the appearance of Shabu, one gram of it was sold for 30,000 Yemeni riyals, then its price decreased to 25,000, to continue.” It gradually decreased until the price of a gram reached 6 thousand Yemeni riyals. This is believed to be one of the reasons leading to the rapid spread of this substance.

Numbers, statistics and analysis

There are no official statistics announced, as the Ministry of Interior does not publish any statistics periodically about drugs. The only numbers we obtained here are for last year (2021) only, and we derived them from the statements of the Minister of Interior, Major General Ibrahim Haidan, on June 26, on the occasion of World Anti-Drug Day, and published by the official Yemeni News Agency (Saba)... We transcribed them and collected them in The infographic, attached below, provides statistics on the number of drug crimes seized during the past year (see the chart attached below).

From the previous statistics and figures, we find that the quantity of the drug “Shabu” seized is the least among other types of drugs, while no figures were mentioned, in the minister’s statements, regarding any quantities of this drug that were destroyed by judicial orders.

From the above, we can conclude that the narcotic substance Shabu may still be difficult to detect easily until now, which makes it more capable of spreading among addicts and the public, without being detected for long periods. This may be due to several reasons, the most important of which is that it has no distinct smell. According to some security specialists in the fight against drugs, it is initially identified by the form of the substance, and is then referred for examination to confirm it.

But...what is shabu?!

After we delved into the details of the spread of Shabu, and the reasons that led to its spread, it remains for us to clarify the origin of the substance and its danger to the human body, life, and society in general.

To find out, “Yemen Shabab Net” obtained a recent report, issued last May by the General Administration for Narcotics Control in the interim capital, entitled “The New Intruder Shabu.”

The report, prepared by forensic chemist Anis Ali Abdel Khaleq, states that “Shabu is one of the names of methamphetamine, and is considered a group of stimulants, which includes cocaine, and aims to increase the activity of the central nervous system and fundamentally change the way the mind works.”

Regarding its dangers, the report explains that “the use of methamphetamine, which is a component of amphetamine, is through swallowing, inhalation, smoking, or injection. The report details the impact of each of these methods on the health and body of the user (see the detailed diagram below, which we summarized from the report) .

He also explained that “smoking, or injecting methamphetamine, puts the drug very quickly into the bloodstream and brain, causing an immediate and intense ‘rush,’ and increases the likelihood of drug addiction and adverse health consequences, while inhalation produces effects within 3 to 5 minutes, and ingestion occurs.” Orally, effects occur within 15 to 20 minutes.

Regarding the origins of Shabu, scientifically known as (methamphetamine), the Director of the Supreme Drug Authority in Taiz Governorate, Dr. Muhammad Al-Sufi, stated, “This substance was discovered in Japan in 1893, while its first use was among the German army during their attack on France in World War II.” The second, where 200 million tablets were distributed under the name (Pervitin).”

Dr. Al-Sufi added to “Yemen Shabab Net” that “methamphetamine was used in the past as a medicine for some diseases, and after that it was banned due to the fatal harm of this substance and addiction to it, and its international circulation or trade was prohibited.”

From a legal standpoint, methamphetamine falls within Schedule No. (1) attached to Yemeni Law No. (3) of 1993, regarding the criminalization of the illicit trade and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

In his discussion of the most important dangerous effects of this substance, Al-Sufi reinforces what was confirmed in the previous report, issued by the General Administration for Narcotics Control in the temporary capital, Aden, that “Shabu, scientifically known as methamphetamine, affects specific chemicals in the brain and nervous system directly, making the user feel euphoric.” "Activity, happiness, and self-confidence, but the user soon turns into an addict, dependent on this substance."

Contrary to what Brigadier General Hamdi denied, Dr. Al-Sufi confirms that “one of the most important characteristics of Shabu is the speed of addiction to it, unlike other types of drugs.”

In addition to its physical and mental harm; Al-Sufi states that “Shabu” has great and serious social, family, and financial damage. Starting from family disintegration, abandonment of responsibility, violence, divorce, murder, rape and homosexuality, all the way to self-neglect and loss of values, in addition to the waste of money and the spread of theft crimes.”

Collective responsibility for the size of the risks