The revelation that Fiji has been officially recognised as a key transit point in the global drug trade is cause for great concern.
We’ve known this for some time though. Well, it was spoken about and there was a lot of talk about Fiji being used as a transit point, or as a sort of a launch pad for drugs to enter the lucrative market of Australia.
It is different though when talks actually focus on a connection that is difficult to shrug aside.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Operations Livai Driu confirmed this connection in the wake of the major cocaine bust in Spain last week which had packages labelled “Fiji”. The cocaine, worth $2billion, were hidden in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador, and intercepted at the southern port of Algeciras.
Fiji, Mr Driu said, was being used as a transit hub for drug cartels, with narcotics often passing through the country on their way to international markets.
He commended the Spanish National Police for the successful operation, which prevented the drugs from entering Europe.
What will attract attention is his next statement: “We’ve known Fiji has been a transit point since the seizure of five tonnes of methamphetamine. This seizure further proves it. We are working closely with international law enforcement partners, including Australian and US authorities, to combat this threat.”
It is fine that we are working with other law enforcement agencies around the world.
As Mr Driu said, police have been monitoring global drug networks, particularly those originating in South America, Asia and Africa.
The cocaine found in Spain, he said, was destined for Australia, with Fiji acting as a stopover point on the trafficking route. While he could not comment on whether Fijian nationals were directly involved in this specific shipment, intelligence sharing and covert operations, he said, were crucial in preventing the drugs from reaching local markets.
As investigations continue, Mr Driu said Fiji remained on alert and committed to safeguarding its borders and maintaining its place in the fight against international drug trafficking. Now we ask the tough questions. How in the world did we get to this stage?
We can now only wonder about what has been happening over the years, because surely something as lucrative and big as this certainly did not just pop out of the woodworks, and surely did not just happen in a year or so! Didn’t we have the capacity and capability to detect this over the years, or decades?
Processes take time to settle in, and systems are nurtured over time as well.
What on earth were we doing over the years? Why weren’t we focused on this challenge as we are doing now?
In the face of that, we give credit where it is due, and say we are encouraged by the effort pushed through by the Minister for Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, and the police now. It is clear there is a commitment to do something about it. The big questions remain. If there were lapses or oversights in the past, then people should be answerable and held accountable.
How did we fail to address this problem earlier?
In saying that, let us consider this a wake-up call!
