Ice Use on the Rise

Sonal Singh

THE use of the highly-addictive drug crystal methamphetamine appears to be on the rise in Fiji, according to reliable sources.

Commonly known as ice, its usage has also been detected among tertiary and high school students. Police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said the force was aware of the growing problem. She could not release figures requested by Wansolwara, but recent arrests for methamphetamine possession and other hard drugs is a testament to the problem.

Fiji has always been sheltered from hard drugs but this may no longer be the case.   From 2015 to 2016, the following cases were detected:

• July, 2015, two men appeared in Lautoka Magistrates Court for shipping of Methamphetamine outside Fiji.   The 21kg consignment stored inside a  pressure cooker was worth $6.5million.
• August 2015, Fiji and New Zealand Ports Authorities intercepted 80kg of methamphetamine (worth $80million) hidden inside car parts in a shipping container bound for Fiji.
• May 2016, a Rakesh Charan was found in possession of about $46,000 worth of methamphetamine in Nausori
• September 1, a Sera Vakula was charged with unlawful importation of 27.4 grams of methamphetamine.
• September 20, a AtelaiteLuvuci and Josateki Lalakai were found in possession of 0.2 grams of methamphetamine in Samabula.

A The Fiji Times article on September 26 this year reported that Fiji is the major transit point for methamphetamine and other illicit hard drugs in the Pacific region.

Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority acting CEO Visvanath Das stated that the current building of intelligence and partnership with Australia and New Zealand was not very successful in eradicating the transitional drug issue, and that more collaboration was needed.

Police indicated that     local usage was increasing but did not provide data.

Besides the arrests, the fact that the Salvation Army and the Ministry of Education’s National Substance Abuse Advisory Council are developing  awareness campaigns for methamphetamine shows it is a local problem also.  Naisoro said that drug pushers were finding new ways to avoid detection.

“We cannot rule out that there are criminal elements out there that will try new things or test the systems in place,” she said. Another popular hard drug in circulation is ecstasy.  Naisoro confirmed this but said she could not divulge more information. Interviews  and investigations by Wansolwara indicate the police, the responsible government agencies and social workers are trying hard to stem the problem. Salvation Army’s Captain Sera Toloi’s work involves the rehabilitation of drug addicts.

She said usage of hard drugs had been detected among tertiary and high school students. She  fears that the drug will become a scourge because its extremely addictive – far more than marijuana.

The local Salvation Army worker said their drug awareness programmes now covered methamphetamines because of its rising popularity.

“We are fortunate in Fiji that  methamphetamine users are not that bad. However, there are warning signs in change of behavior and physical appearance,” she said. A local crystal meth user who spoke on the condition of anonymity says ice is mostly sold in select night clubs in Nadi and Suva.

He said the  local street name of the drug is fire or white fire, and is sold in small plastic packets in FJ$50-$150 quantities.

Another source said some taxi drivers were increasingly popular as middlemen and that crystal meth was easily cooked in backyard or makeshift labs.

Ministry of Education Senior Drug Advisor Josua Naisele said they have added methamphetamines into their campaign against drugs. He said that they visit communities upon invitation to educate not only youths, but the older generation also. This because the older generation in Fiji are not so aware about the dangers of methamphetamine, which is a relatively new drug. Naisele, the National Substance Abuse Advisory Council member, said every effort was being made to contain the problem so that it does not escalate into an epidemic like in parts of Australia, New Zealand and the United States.