Shocking numbers have been revealed by the Assistant Commissioner of Police Internal Affairs and Professional Standards, Sakeo Ganivatu on the broad impact of drugs in the country as young children aged 8 and 9 years are being used to traffic or sell drugs.
While speaking during a Methodist Church Youth camp in Lautoka, ACP Ganivatu says he met two children aged 8 and 9 years in Suva who were selling needles.
He says drug peddlers are now targeting young children to peddle drugs for them.
He also says the two students who were found with drugs in schools in recent months were selling drugs to their peers.
The Assistant Commissioner says one of the students was a class 8 student, and his father was giving him drugs to sell at his school.
ACP Ganivatu says young people at the age of 16, 17, 18 and 19 years are now being charged with serious crimes such as murder, and this should be a wake-up call for parents.
He says in January this year, they recorded a 94 percent increase in drug-related cases.
The Assistant Commissioner says 3.5 tonnes of methamphetamine was discovered in Legalega, Nadi, and this large amount should not be found in the country.
He adds there is a lot of hidden information they are following, and more drugs are being trafficked around the country.
