Villagers uncover ‘mystery’ drug trafficking network
FOR more than 10 years, villagers in the Udu Point area have found, almost every week, floaters carrying black nylon fishing nets attached with tightly closed PVC pipes, a GPS-like gadget and powered by a small solar panel.
Although villagers couldn’t confirm two years ago to The Fiji Times what these things were used for, a discovery of the same materials near Nukudamu Village last year confirmed such floaters and gadgets have been used to carry white substance believed to be methamphetamine and needles.
Two years ago, when a team from this newspaper visited the villages including Nukudamu and Vunikodi in Macuata, almost all houses had these packages and the net used as a hammock.
Vunikodi Village elder and head of the village crime prevention committee Eparama Rokoika said they referred last year’s finding of the same material to police.
“We have always suspected that these materials have been used to illegally transport drugs in these maritime and outer islands, but we couldn’t do that earlier,” he said.
“This is because when we find these materials, the lid on the PVC pipe is removed and nothing is inside, so we thought fishing boats used it.
“But we find these materials every week for the past 10 years and this is a concern.”
Last year’s case, Mr Rokoika said, villagers found them with the white substances and needles packed inside the PVC pipe.
“We reported this matter to the police, and they came and took the white substance and needles that we all saw and this is a worry for us, especially when we don’t have any police posts in these remote areas,” he said.
“For more than 10 years, villages in the Udu Point area, both in the provinces of Cakaudrove and Macuata have found these floaters and materials and this means, the drug trade must have been happening out at sea.”