Page 19 - IB January 2023

Drugs Drugs

a small player in the international drug trade, catering for the danger that drugs pose to our people and our countries
growing local markets. and then try to find ways to deal with this issue.
Methamphetamines are taking over from marijuana as the “We are ill-equipped to handle the situation at this stage.
previous drug of choice in Fiji and the associated level of Our pastors will need to be trained to counsel people.’’
violence shocked Fijians in 2022, as gangs rampaged through Church leaders from the Cook Islands, Fiji, Kanaky (New
local neighbourhoods wielding iron rods and cane knives to Caledonia), Maohi Nui (French Polynesia), Marshall Islands, Sa-
enforce the rules of drug lords who controlled them from moa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna
prison. attended the five-day summit.
In Tonga, police established the Drug Enforcement Task Jose Sousa-Santos of the Australian Pacific Security College
Force in April 2018, making 263 arrests in the first 12 months has had 30 years of experience fighting the drug trade, includ-
and seizing more than 30 kilograms of methamphetamine with ing harrowing incidents in his original home, Timor Leste.
a street value in excess of AU$24 million (US16 million). He told church leaders that money laundering and cyber-
Some of the Pacific drug manufacturing trade has been crime could be expected to increase alongside drug traffick-
taken up by the approximately 3500 islanders deported from ing, smuggling and manufacture.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States from 2004 to On the back of a burgeoning local drug trade comes the
2016. With no means of income and unable to integrate into increased robberies, theft and prostitution which provides the
society, they have turned to their particular skill set. cash for users to pay for their habit.
Fiji’s drug labs are believed to be mainly in gated commu- Sousa-Santos broke down and wept, as he related to church
nities - away from prying eyes - in the West of the country. leaders how Timorese men were lured into drug use, and their
Police raided the resort island of Denarau last year and uncov- wives and daughters trafficked to brothels in foreign countries
ered a methamphetamine production operation. to pay dealers.
The island is easily accessible by sea and powerful motor- “We must stop this evil trade,’’ he said.
boats in the area have the ability to transship drugs at sea. But how much can the churches do? Research by Australia’s
A number of unsolved murders in Fiji - two Russians in 2017 Lowy Institute shows there are limits to the effectiveness
at a remote farm on the Coral Coast, a Fiji citizen at Nasinu of community and church organisations in combating drug-
in 2015 and a double homicide involving a local watchman and related crime.
Chinese national in Lami in 2014, are believed to be drug- “These include moral and religious sensitivities on certain
related. topics, and the patriarchal nature of traditional and church
Late last year, Australian law enforcement officials met hierarchies that inhibits leaders from engaging with vulner-
Pacific church leaders and sought their support in the war able women and girls,” a Lowy report stated.
against drugs. “In other cases, village councils have also been reluctant to
Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga President, Reverend Dr become involved where family members were implicated.’’
Tevita Havea, said religious leaders recognised the new threat For now, Pacific churches have started to plan how to ad-
to Pacific people. dress this new crisis together.
“We must move decisively and take action to save our
people,’’ Havea said in Sydney. publisher@islandsbusiness.com
“It is the duty of our churches to gather the people, discuss

Islands Business, January 2023 19