 |
| |
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP)
Rahman once came face to face with a knifewielding
drug addict. He talks about how he survived a
stabbing and why he still loves his job as an
officer of the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).
ASP Rahman (not his real name) is an officer in
charge of a CNB Supervision Land Division Office.
His team of about 20 officers tracks down drug
abusers, suppliers and traffickers. They also
supervise ex-drug addicts who have to report to
CNB regularly for urine testing.
“A lot of people think the job is about brute
force but a lot of brain work is involved,” he
said. “When we learn their tricks, they conjure
up new tricks. It’s a cat and mouse game, that’s
why it’s interesting.”
Once, ASP Rahman arrested a man who was suspected
to be a drug trafficker. The man was carrying
two large suitcases. When ASP Rahman opened them,
he was astonished to find them empty.
Certain that he had arrested the right man, ASP
Rahman brought the suitcases back to his office.
There, under strong flourescent light, he noticed
that the lining of the luggage looked like it
had been tempered with. After chiselling at the
corners and removing the lining, he found that
the suitcases actually contained more than 5 kilogrammes
of heroin!
The job of a CNB officer is also risky and dangerous
at times.
On one occasion, ASP Rahman was attacked by a
drug addict. He and another inspector had forced
entry into an apartment where two drug addicts
were hiding. When ASP Rahman entered the kitchen,
one of them tried to stab him with a knife. He
turned away, so instead of striking him in front,
the attacker struck his back.
“That happened early in my career when I had
more blood than brains!” he said. Fortunately,
ASP Rahman was not seriously hurt from the attack,
although the stab wound was rather deep.
Recalling a light-hearted moment in the whole
episode, he said: “At the hospital, I told the
doctor to stitch me up quickly and let me go home
as I had been working the whole night and wanted
to go back to sleep. The doctor took his last
finger and poked it into my wound. When he drew
it out, it was covered with blood. He said the
wound was even deeper than that, so I agreed to
be admitted!”
For ASP Rahman, working at the Bureau has brought
home the reality of how drugs affect both individuals
and their families.
He related an incident when he raided an apartment
and arrested a group of people who were injecting
opium. One of them was a mother who had a crying
baby on her lap. She was subsequently sent to
a drug rehabilitation centre.
When ASP Rahman tried to locate the baby’s father,
he learnt that he, too, was serving time in a
drug rehabilitation centre. In the end, the baby’s
nearest next-of-kin, his 70-year-old grandmother,
had to take care of the child.
Said ASP Rahman: “Drug abusers often say they
can bear the burden themselves, but it’s not true.
It is sad how many people are affected when one
person takes drugs. And children are often the
ones who suffer for the follies of adults.”
Encountering demanding and even lifethreatening
situations is part of working at CNB. Yet ASP
Rahman, who has been with the Bureau since 1998,
enjoys the excitement and challenges of the job.
“This job does have a hold on me,” he said.
Going on to explain why, he added: “What I do
for a living is different from what other people
do. It’s more varied and interesting and there’s
an element of danger to it.” |
