GONE Turaga Bale na Tui Nayau, Tui Lau Ratu Tevita Mara says he is becoming increasingly concerned that drugs found in Lau waters appear to be moving closer to island communities.
Speaking to this newspaper, Ratu Tevita said recent drug discoveries in Ogea, Komo and other parts of Lau reflected a growing pattern of organised criminal networks using Lau waters as a transit route.
He said the discoveries were no longer isolated incidents but part of a reoccurring threat facing the province and surrounding island groups.
“I am concerned, deeply so,” Ratu Tevita said.
“Our people remember the parcels that washed ashore in 2017, and there have been finds in the years since, not only at Ogea but across Lau and the neighbouring island groups.
“What we are seeing now is not an isolated event. It is a pattern and the pattern is growing.”
Ratu Tevita said the recovery of 26 parcels in a single discovery at Ogea showed the volume of drugs moving through Lau waters was increasing.
“Each time it returns, it reaches a little further and a little closer to our communities.
“Our maritime boundaries are immense, and the routes that pass near us are the same ones these networks use to move drugs onward toward Australia and New Zealand.”
Ratu Tevita said Lau’s location made it vulnerable to transnational criminal networks moving illicit drugs through the region.
He said there were also growing concerns over the methods being used by drug traffickers.
“There are warnings now even of submersible vessels being used.”
Ratu Tevita said Lau was not the intended destination for the drugs, but the repeated discoveries showed the province was being affected by the movement of illicit drugs through its waters.
