Drug cultivation, trafficking on the rise in West Bank

Ahmad Melhem

Mar 29, 2017

A Palestinian policeman shows one of the hundreds of seized marijuana plants at the police headquarters in the West Bank city of Hebron on March 31, 2015. The plants, which were confiscated in the Hebron area, were being cultivated by a Palestinian farmer in cooperation with Israelis, the Hebron police said. AFP PHOTO/ HAZEM BADER (Photo credit should read HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images) — A Palestinian policeman shows one of hundreds of seized marijuana plants in the West Bank city of Hebron, March 31, 2015. — HAZEM BADER/AFP/Getty Images

عربي

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian police said that it seized different types of drugs worth 60 million Israeli shekels ($16.5 million) in the various provinces between the beginning of January and mid-March.

Speaking to Al-Monitor, Palestinian police spokesman Lt. Col. Luay Irzikat said that drug cultivation and trafficking has increased in the West Bank in the first quarter of 2017 compared to previous years.