Minister for Defence, Inia Seruiratu has confirmed that the Drug Detector Dog Unit based at the Nausori and Nadi international airports has intercepted cases of hard drugs from 2017 to 2019 with a street value of 63 million dollars and 90.9 million dollars in social costs.
While speaking in parliament today, Seruiratu says in government’s endeavor to fight against this cross border crime, Fiji Revenue and Customs Service has taken serious steps to have a virtual border control system to profile passengers, cargo and crafts before they enter Fiji.
He says some of the real time initiatives include the introduction of non-intrusive inspection equipment at the seaports in Suva and Lautoka, further extending the scanning of parcels at the postal agencies and further supported with the Fiji Drug Detector Dog Unit.
Drug offences recorded an increase of 13 percent in June 2019 when compared to the same period last year.
Seruiratu also says that they have noted that hard drugs have found a transit point from our neighbours particularly from Australia and NZ, and marijuana have found very strong cultivation presence in Kadavu, Vanua Levu and Navosa and they continue to harvest and supply in the Fijian market.
He says the 13 percent increase in this Police statistic may not have the actual increase however more is being done by the law enforcement agencies.
Seruiratu says last week, the collaboration between Police and the Fiji Navy was again realised when the RFNS Kikau was deployed to retrieve transponders and suspicious containers found in one of our far lying group of islands with the retrieval process completed in less than 10 hours.
He says controlling our borders will always be a challenge.
Seruiratu also says he acknowledge and concurs with the Prime Minister that the illicit drug situation in Fiji needs a collaborative and more cohesive effort from all segments in our society.
He says in curbing the problem, Police would need rigorous collaborated operational strategy as well as surveillance and newer methods such as biological control measures.
Seruiratu says it is imperative for us to work together and find out the root causes of why children are loitering in town or why there are more 1,600 young people linked to drug cases in our schools.
The Minister says just as the Police Commissioner has stated that they are going back to the basics, so should we work together to see why the family institution is failing.
Seruiratu says this is our Fiji and our home. He says no one will come from outside to solve our issues.
The Minister says we need everyone’s support to join the fight against drugs before it becomes a real menace to our society and our economy.
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