KARACHI - A drug destruction ceremony was held at Hawke’s Bay on Tuesday to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. A coast guard’s statement said that the ceremony was arranged by Pakistan Coast Guards under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Counter Narcotics (Sindh). According to the statement, a concerted effort was being made by all agencies of the Inter-Agency Task Force to promote awareness of the cause. The aim of the ceremony was to bring to people’s attention the high risk that drugs casts on humanity, especially the youth. The Inter-Agency Task Force consists of 30 federal and provincial agencies putting up a unified front against the menace of narcotics in the country. This year, a total of 23,351.9 kg of hashish, 185.115 kg of heroin, 45,301 bottles of alcohol, 3,623 cans of beer, 272,950 packets of gutka, 2,000 kg of betel nuts and 1,249.400 kg of potassium permanganate were destroyed. The destroyed load had an estimated value of over hundreds of millions rupees. Cases of almost the same number are also pending in different courts of law and awaiting disposal, the statement added. Meanwhile, Pakistan Coast Guards destroyed 3,616.490 kg of hashish, 9.850 kg of heroin, 39,617 bottles of alcohol, 3,483 cans of beers, 272,950 packets of gutka, 2,000 kg of betel nuts and 1,249.400 kg of potassium permanganate. The National Assembly Standing Committee on Narcotics Chairman Murtaza Javed Abbasi distributed commendation certificates among the officers and operatives of various agencies who had made significant seizures during the year.