Reports that 9,000 Kgs of Ephedrine, a highly dangerous contraband chemical, which is also used in manufacture of Ecstasy and Cocaine, was allowed to be imported by two pharmaceutical companies based in Multan during 2010 are very disturbing. This irregular import is over and above the total annual legitimate requirements of 10,000 Kgs of Ephedrine for the whole pharmaceutical industry of Pakistan. This unchecked import of a killer chemical, which has resulted in deaths of hundreds of thousands and habitual addiction of millions, is a crime against future generations of this country.
Those elected were not given a mandate so that they or their family members could play with lives of citizens and take this country back into stone ages without any electricity or security. Those guilty, irrespective of their political clout, must be punished to serve as a deterrence for others. Even if this Ephedrine was used in drugs which were smuggled across the border, it is an act of terrorism, as heinous as being involved in smuggling weapons of mass destruction. Pakistan will become a country inhabited by millions of addicts while few drug peddlers would become billionaires overnight. This is a very serious crime against people of Pakistan.
This is a threat to our national security which is more lethal than that posed by terrorists from across our borders. All those within the bureaucracy, the political executive, customs, health ministry and ANF must be taken to task, for this is a crime against humanity.