FORENSIC specialists are working to uncover what materials are being used to manufacture locally made low-grade methamphetamine consumed by Fijian users.
Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu yesterday informed the media that pure-grade meth was being supplied overseas.
“Our forensic lab is working on that. What I mean is that we have pure meth that is being sold to the users overseas,” he said.
“But the leftover that is given now to those that are facilitating, that is our worry because it is not in a pure form. They come and cook it up so that they can melt it and add it, they go online in order to get the chemicals to be mixed with that.
“That is our worry because they are going online, and they are cooking that in their homes. I can say that it’s bad to their health and they should stop using it.”
He said they were concentrating efforts on locating places in the country where meth was being manufactured.
“As of March, there will be national operations coming up so we expect a beef-up of police presence and we would like to wind down all of this.”
Mr Tudravu also said the illicit drug trade was a key priority, and while he could not go into specific details of upcoming operations, police would be relentless in their approach to disrupt, destabilise and dismantle illicit networks by cutting the supply chain.
He said following investigations, there was no intelligence to show the existence of a large commercial-grade drug manufacturing laboratory in Fiji.
The commissioner said this was confirmed through extensive intelligence gathering and information sharing with local, regional and international partners such as the Pacific Transnational Crime Network and Australian Federal Police.
“Fiji is almost certainly only being used as a trans-shipment point for illicit drug trafficking to other lucrative drug markets.
“Small scale seizures of methamphetamine made throughout the five divisions are from low level unprofessional cooking of experimental drugs on a very small scale, that are often a mixture of poisonous chemicals, extremely harmful to one’s health.
“Drugs can be brought to Fiji in many ways – hidden in vessels, in cargo, or carried in on person, and I am renewing calls for a holistic approach in tackling the drug trade, as we all need to be vigilant in stopping transnational crime syndicates taking a hold in Fiji.
“Major crimes are linked to drugs, and the Fiji Police Force is determined to break the vicious cycle – one arrest and seizure at a time.” He has called on the community to assist police in disrupting the drug trade.
