Courtesy Call

A meeting to strengthen counter-narcotics efforts in Fiji and the region was held today with Lisa A. Johnson, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law (INL) Enforcement Affairs, USA and the Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew at the Fiji Police Headquarters.

Ms Johnson was accompanied by Michael Manansala the U.S. Department of State INL Enforcement Foreign Affairs Officer in the East Asia and Pacific and U.S. Embassy Suva Regional Security Officer Special Agent Sam McRae.

Discussions revolved around capacity building efforts towards counter narcotics as well as its associated crimes.

“INL wants to work with you to combat trafficking not just of drugs, but also because drug traffickers use the same route for trafficking of other things, of people, wildlife products, illegal fishing, and it all comes back to the money, money laundering".

"INL is largely in the capacity building business, and we understand that you also have a lot of help from other stakeholders such as the AFP and New Zealand Police and we want to work closely with them so we are not duplicating in the same areas but to add value”.

Touching on the issue of synthetic drugs and its associated risks, Ms Johnson, said the emergence of new types of drugs, presents a news set of challenges for the public and law enforcement.

“Labs are small and harder to detect and the real challenge is to go after the production. But it is not an issue only for law enforcement as we are also looking at the public health impacts, and what are the best practices for preventing drug use or treating drug use for rehabilitation or community awareness, and how to reduce the harms to our communities, so that is a huge part of the global coalition".

“Everyone needs to be talking about it, and the global coalition’s point of countering narcotics is also about working on the community aspect and the health aspect, as narcotics is not only a law enforcement issue, but a community and health issue”.

The Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew conveyed the organisation’s appreciation to the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for assisting Police with its counter narcotics efforts, supporting statements made about the need to enhance partnerships and awareness.

The Acting Commissioner said the Fiji Police Force is looking forward to working together through training and other capacity building programs with INL and other US law enforcement agencies.