Drugs

Although no illicit substances were found on them during their arrest at a city Lodge on May 6, the officers were served with administrative charges due to their actions being captured on video.

Assistant Commissioner of Police and Commander for the National Capital District and Central Province Divisional Command, Anthony Wagambie Jr, stated that out of the three police officers, one was served with four SDORs, the second with three, and the third with two.

The 35-year-old appeared in the Manukau District Court this morning.

He was due to stand trial this week on charges of importing methamphetamine and possessing methamphetamine for supply.

But he has now entered a guilty plea through his lawyer Vivienne Feyen to a representative importation charge.

Feyen told the court Vatuvei accepted responsibility for his offending.

Vatuvei has been remanded on bail ahead of his sentencing in December.

The Crown has indicated it will withdraw the remaining charges at sentencing.

The young men, from the wards of Ainong and Simbai, were supported by their mothers and elders as they began their first step towards a fresh start.  

The police officer who received the illegal items, Wilford Salai, encouraged the youth to give their lives to God.

He said the young people in Simbai exchange marijuana with their peers from Ramu River for guns, electronic gadgets or money.

Simbai LLG President, Johnson Gingeb, stated that this marks a new era as they work towards eradicating drugs and homebrew, or steam, which is destroying the younger generation.

A USP student was convicted in the Suva Magistrates Court this week for possession of illicit drugs.

Kessler Anton from Papua New Guinea pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana, after police found the drug in his room on 1 August.

The court, however, will not register Anton's conviction because it said the student was unlikely to reoffend.

Instead, Anton was bound over for $US235 and told he would have to pay the sum if he reoffended.

USP Vice Chancellor Professor Pal Ahluwalia said the university had a zero-tolerance policy against drugs.

The NCD-Central Divisional Command reported that the boy, of Jiwaka and Northern Province parentage, had the drugs on him whilst on board a PMV bus route number 19.

The Boroko Support Units call-sign S450 and S411 also captured a 43-year-old at Taurama Foodland. The man is from Goilala district in Central Province.

Both suspects have now been formally arrested and charged for being in possession of dangerous drug or marijuana and they are detained at the Boroko Police Station awaiting their respective court appearances.

Originating from Eastern Highlands and transported via Lae, police were made aware of its presence at Roku, outside Port Moresby, following a tip off from guards.

NCD Metropolitan Superintendent, Perou N’Dranou, told this newsroom that the shipment was busted by members of the National Drugs and Vice Squad on the evening of Friday, March 27^th, after they received reports that young men were fighting over the cargoes at the AES wharf at Roku.

A report from KPS said that as illicit drugs are already in the country, people particularly youths, are probably using it.

KPS said the pure cocaine package, weighed 1.5kg while the other package containing marijuana weighed more than 3kg.

The drugs are being kept at the Kiribati Police Headquarters in Betio.

Police have called on the public to report information related to suspected drug use and possession.

The boat was first searched on behest of the customs department after it docked on the atoll of Apataki and 340 kilogrammes of the drug was found.

It was then transferred to Tahiti where more concealed drugs were recovered, bringing the total haul to 436 kilogrammes.

The boat had sailed from Panama and was crewed by four men - three Italians and a Peruvian.

The four are being held in Papeete and are at risk of being jailed for 30 years and incurring fines of nearly $US10 million.

The Kavieng MP and shadow Treasurer, Ian Ling-Stuckey, reconfirmed reports by health workers on ground that vital drugs are not available.

Ling-Stuckey visited the Puas Sub-Health Centre in the Lavongai LLG, where he asked the sister in charge and her able second in charge whether they had any antibiotics.

“No sir, they all ran out two months ago and we don’t expect any more supplies until March 2019,” he was told.

“I also asked whether they have any anti-malaria tablets. ‘We have one and a half week’s supply then we run out completely’.

The allegations on shortage of medical supplies are being recirculated on mainstream and social media.

The concerns were initially brought to public attention in May this year, where Professor Glen Mola, the head of the discipline of Obstetrics & Gynaecology at the University of PNG, said they heard during a Port Moresby General Hospital staff meeting that the many thousands of HIV positive people on treatment may not have any medicine to take.