THE increasing use and illegal trade of methamphetamine in Fiji is something the Fiji Police Force cannot tackle on its own.
Reiterating this, Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho said the illicit drug trade was rather a fight of the region and the world and the Force would not relent from it.
“It’s not a Fiji (issue), it’s a world issue that we are all battling together, it’s something that we cannot attack on our own, it’s something we have to attack as a region and globally as well,” Brig-Gen Qiliho said.
The police chief said the existence of “ice” labs was not a new challenge for the Force, however, it was encountered when dealing with drugs.
About a decade ago, police discovered Fiji’s biggest meth lab at Laucala Beach Estate in Nasinu.
In an interview with this newspaper, Brig-Gen Qiliho revealed police have encountered a few others following that major bust and have already dismantled it.
He said the Nakasi-Nausori corridor was a densely populated area and the illegal trade of hard drugs was among the issues that arose out of it.
Brig-Gen Qiliho added that his intention would be to establish the Force’s narcotics bureau before the end of the year.
He said they were already looking at facilities.
“I need to go back to Government and plead with them if we can utilise some of those unused facilities — it has to be a stand-alone bureau on itself.”
Meanwhile, Brig-Gen Qiliho recently expressed that one of his worries was the huge impacts of drugs in the health system and economy of a small country like Fiji, saying that the demand for and the over production of drugs in South America has led to the increase in the movement of drugs through the Pacific.
“We need to continue our training in narcotics because we can’t allow Fiji to fall to drugs and we are in a position to do something about it now,” Brig-Gen Qiliho said.
“The impacts of drugs on a small country like ours will be devastating; productive people made unproductive, the strain on our health system and the strain on our economy will be huge and that’s what I worry about.”
