Local crime syndicates involving deportees working with international drug cartels in Fiji – ACP Waqa

We have ended up with tonnes of methamphetamine found in Fiji because we now have locally organised crime syndicates working with international drug cartels.

This has been revealed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime Mesake Waqa while speaking at the Fiji Law Society Convention and the 2nd Pasefika Lawyers Collective Conference, held under the theme “Embracing Change: The Future of Law in the Pacific,” at the Crowne Plaza in Nadi.

ACP Waqa says 3 decades ago, marijuana was the only drug in Fiji however we then started seeing methamphetamine coming in small quantities, and then increasing into tonnes of drugs found here.

He says in Fiji, we had local crime syndicates that were normally involved in violent crimes like robberies and burglaries before they went into the drug trade.

ACP Waqa says the local crime syndicates were set up with deportees from Australia, New Zealand and the US.

He reveals that once the deportees settled in Fiji, they began to set up their operation here.

ACP Waqa says in 2012, they detected meth in milligrams and now they have discovered it in tonnes.

He confirms they have received information that the organised groups here have started connections with the international drug cartels.