Couple arrested for involvement in illicit drugs

As the Divisional Task Forces step up its operations on targeting receivers of stolen property, the arrest of a couple in Vatuwaqa earlier this week has uncovered what could be a bigger network of those involved in the illicit drug trade.

Chief Operations Officer (COO) Assistant Commissioner of Police Abdul Khan said a raid was conducted at accused persons home in Nanuku Settlement, Vatuwaqa, where illicit drugs tested positive for marijuana were seized.

The couple who are alleged to be involved in the buying and selling of marijuana have both been jointly charged with one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs and one count of Possession of Property Suspected to be Proceeds of Crime.

They will be produced at the Suva Magistrates Court today. Investigators are also pursuing leads of other suspected persons involved in the cultivation and sale of marijuana in other parts of the country.

ACP Khan says apart from the focus on the cultivation of marijuana in Kadavu and in Beqa, joint Task Force teams with officers from the Police Special Response Unit were deployed earlier this week to other maritime islands in the Eastern Division to pursue the information gathered.