POLICE raided several homes in Namoli Village, Lautoka, in search of stolen explosives, stated an article in The Fiji Times on May 9, 1997.
Divisional police commander western, Senior Superintendent Govind Raju said the raids were carried out following instructions from police headquarters.
No explosives were recovered.
The discovery of two sticks of dynamite in Suva earlier in the week triggered a nationwide search for explosives.
Police had set up roadblocks around the country to search vehicles as part of “Operation Expo”, launched after the discovery of the dynamite.
SSP Raju said more raids were likely.
Meanwhile, divisional police commander southern, Senior Superintendent Kevueli Bulamainaivalu said officers were acting on information provided by members of the public.
He urged the people of Fiji to come forward with information on people illegally possessing explosives.
“We must seize all those explosives before they get into the wrong hands,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Department of Mineral Resources was trying to determine the source of the explosives found at an earlier raid in Suva.
Director of Mines Bhaskar Rao said authorities would inspect all explosive storage sites.
“We will do our best to help the police in their investigation,” he said.
Police officers around the country mounted a 24-hour search for explosives and carried out more than 10 raids over three days.
