COMPOL Rusiate Tudravu has confirmed that the Fiji Police Force will seek support from the military in tackling drug-related issues, citing limited resources as a key factor.
Speaking at a press conference this morning, Tudravu said he will meet the military commander on Monday.
“This is a decision that was always there. The military is always the second option to our presence,” he said.
He explained that his initial approach has been to closely monitor the situation before calling for additional support.
“When I came in and discussed the possibility of calling the meeting, I decided that during my initial stages here in the office, we conduct… we will review. I was monitoring. I want to know the real situation—how can we cope with our capabilities, the resources we have.”
The COMPOL noted that the police have achieved successes with limited resources.
“We did marvelously well in terms of the drugs that were uprooted. However, it comes a time that we need their support, and we’ll be discussing that further.”
“It has been done before; we just need to discuss it further, where they can assist us because of the limited resources that we have.”
“They have the numbers, and they can assist us around the country in that regard, but everything will depend on the briefing.”
Tudravu confirmed that police will provide a full briefing to the military commander.
“We will be briefing the commander on the status of drugs, based on the information we have and police presence, and we’ll see from his side how they can assist us and support us.”
