Solomons

The group from the Tasman Islands crossed over by boat to the Malaita Outer Islands on Boxing Day, allegedly to purchase the local homebrew called Kaleve.

They were arrested by police and screened by medical authorities in the outer islands before being transported to the capital.

In Honiara, they were further screened then released to police after testing negative for Covid-19.

Three 19-year-olds and a 34-year-old have been charged with illegal entry by a non-citizens under Covid-19 state of public emergency regulation.

In a statement, the government confirmed the student was repatriated from the Philippines in September last year, tested positive for Covid-19 in quarantine, before recovering and being released in November after five consecutive negative test results.

The Solomon Star newspaper reported the student spent the Christmas-New Year period in his home village in Malaita Province before falling sick and testing positive for Covid-19 at the Kilufi Provincial Hospital this week.

A police statement released says the bodies of three females and two males were recovered near Maka during Sunday's search effort.

The commander of the police operation centre, Richard Menapi, said three of the bodies had been identified and a doctor and police forensics team were being dispatched to help identify the remaining two.

Speaking from the Solomon Islands at the end of the mission, Senior National Officer and Clearance Diver Lieutenant Shaun Heaslip said the Australian Defence Force-led deployment, called Operation Render Safe, had been a great success and the New Zealanders would be leaving with some interesting tales.

“The team has really enjoyed working with our Australian comrades and the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force to make a difference to the people here in the New Georgia Islands in the Western Province,” Lieutenant Heaslip said.

Police said the 50-year-old man from Malaita province used different dates of birth and other details for each alias.

Only one of them was his true identity.

He was arrested on Tuesday and charged with seven counts of providing misleading information, an offence under the country's new Electoral Act, which carries a maximum penalty of $US6,000 or five years imprisonment or both.

Police said more election fraud cases relating to the voter registration period were being investigated.

The Solomons has been afflicted by heavy rain and strong winds for the last two weeks, which have caused rivers to bust their banks and sweep through villages on the main islands of Malaita and Guadalcanal.

The flash flooding has contaminated drinking water and destroyed food gardens.

Director of the Disaster Management Office, Loti Yates, said food supplies and health and sanitation packs were needed as the risk of water and mosquito borne diseases was rising.

Eighty percent of those affected are subsistence farmers living in rural areas, Mr Yates said

Police Commissioner Matthew Varley said it also shows the region's police forces are getting better at uncovering it.

He said the Solomons' operation disrupted the shipment of 500kg of cocaine with a street value of $US140million to 215m.

The shipment was found on board a yacht originating in South America.

A series of similar hauls in Fiji earlier this year prompted experts to speculate crime syndicates would redirect supply routes through other Pacific countries.

According to a police statement forensic work was still ongoing but initial assessments indicate that onboard the yacht is a commercial shipment of several hundred kilogrammes of cocaine.

Solomon Islands police boarded the Vieux Malin - a double-masted yacht- yesterday morning outside the Honiara marina after receiving information from Australian authorities.

The cocaine was concealed in a cavity behind a false wall panel in the interior of the yacht.

Provincial Police Commander Central Province, Superintendent Patricia Leta said the loading capacity was for six passengers but a total of 16 boarded the boat.

She said least 12 people were confirmed to have survived the tragedy and there were children among the survivors

The police said the boat had been travelling from Toa to Burungia village in Central Province yesterday.

Superintendent Leta said a police inquiry will be held and police at Tulagi will work closely with relatives of the deceased and the survivors.

They said a 20-year-old man was believed to have been attacked on Monday by one of the reptiles at Hove River in the Tangarere area.

His body was found at the river the next day by relatives.

The province's acting police chief Nixson Manetoga says officers have been sent to the area to get more information and permission from community leaders to hunt and kill any crocodiles in the area.