THE Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) is building a canine facility in the Northern Division as it extends its border reach beyond traditional gateways, targeting an enhanced border security against illicit and smuggled goods.
Citing the events of late with major drug busts in the country, FRCS chief executive officer Udit Singh said expanding their canine project to the Northern Division meant Fiji’s borders were under threat consistently and constantly, and that all agencies and stakeholders had to be more collaborative in its approach.
The expansion of the Dog Detector Unit to the Northern Division, particularly in Savusavu, he said would ensure their reach to maritime areas was more robust.
“We are building a canine facility up in the North and we are working closely with other government agencies. We will be coordinating better with other agencies – the police, the water police, the Navy, CID and a number of other enforcement agencies to make sure we have a more coordinated approach,” Mr Singh said in an interview.
Other initiatives also underway include the establishment of a container examination facility, to strengthen non-intrusive inspection capabilities; and the procurement of advanced surveillance and monitoring equipment to enhance risk detection.
He said border security always presented a threat to their Customs team.
“Border security is a big issue because the borders are very international. There’s a lot of movement of goods and there’s a lot of movement of people across many borders.
“And our intelligence, our targeting, our risk management and our on the ground people need to make sure that they’re effectively rising to the challenge.”
He said there was now a passenger terminal at Nabouwalu in Bua, Vanua Levu, and they looked forward to having the same in Natovi.
“There’s a lot of internal movement and we will be talking with other agencies to make sure that we coordinate our efforts together.”
He said there was drugs and contrabands always coming through – “coming through mail, maritime areas, containers and coming through luggage so we just have to be vigilant”.
Mr Singh said they were aware of the change in behaviour of criminal elements getting a lot more sophisticated.
“We just need to make sure that our targeting and intelligence, and also our connect into international agencies is more robust.
“We are working with our fellow colleagues at the airport, police and also air freight – air freight is also an area where we see a constant trickling of contraband.”
