Police Records 768 Drug-Related Cases
More than 760 drug-related cases were recorded in the first five months this year in the Western Division.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime (ACP/C) Mesake Waqa revealed the statisticss while officiating at the War on Drugs and Fight for Violence against Women and Children roadshow in Rakiraki on Friday.
ACP Waqa thanked the Ra Provincial Council members for taking the stand to protect their province from destructive impacts of the illicit drug trade. The three-day Rakiraki road show is jointly facilitated by the Rakiraki Community Policing Team, Government ministries and civil society organisations with the aim of educating and empowering communities.
A declaration was made on April 11, 2024, during the provincial meeting with the vanua pledging to ban drugs from the province.
“We salute this move, noting our consistent call for community support in reducing the supply of illicit drugs,” ACP Waqa said.
“If you look at it by division, 342 cases were recorded within the same period in the West, 164 in the North, 156 in the South, 61 in the East and 45 in the Central.”
ACP Waqa said through consistent collaborative efforts, the figure can be reduced.
“Here in the West, arrests were made from Sigatoka to Rakiraki, Nalawa and Border Police. Some may argue, it’s expected, because the West is the largest division, but today I want to challenge you to change that narrative. Just because it is expected, does not mean - it has to be,” he said.
He also used the opportunity to call for a collaborative approach in addressing crimes against women and children.
“At the beginning of my address, I had stated that as a society we have not done enough to better protect you all from becoming victims in the very place that is supposed to be your sanctuary, your comfort zone, your home.
“While in some months we would record increases, and others decreases, the consistent and disturbing factor is that many are domestic related. Whether it is assault or sexual related, worryingly, the crimes were committed within a domestic setting.”
He added: “This means that the offender was known to the victim through a personal relationship, whether it be, father – daughter, uncle – niece/nephew, husband – wife, grandfather – granddaughter or grandson, or de-facto partners. What we also must be aware of, is that, in some cases, the offenders are also children.
“Crimes happening within our homes depict moral decay, and a need for more concerted effort to address the why factor. That is where the vanua, religious groups, NGOs (non-Government) and CSOs (Civil Society) organisations come in to help law enforcement in the why factor.”