_{^{By Ronald Toito’ona  & Charley Piringi}}

Police claimed they’ve destroyed a small amount of drugs seized during raids they’ve executed on three business establishments in east Honiara late last year.

“The drugs were destroyed last Saturday,” Police Commissioner Mostyn Mangau assured journalists today.

His assurance came after head of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Supt. Leslie Simao reportedly demanded and took away the drugs – methamphetamine (meth) and ketamine – from his investigators.

Simao’s action resulted in a stand-off with his investigators, who believed the drugs should be stored in the exhibit room for safe-keeping and as evidence.

“We don’t know where the drugs were kept after they were taken away from exhibit officers by the head of CID,” an officer familiar with the case told In-depth Solomons.

“It’s either they sell them, give them back to the owners or hide them somewhere,” the officer added.

“In fact investigators refused to hand over the drugs initially. They only gave in after they sought and received advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) that under our current laws, meth and ketamine are not listed as dangerous drugs – which means no one is going to be prosecuted for those drugs,” the officer said.

After handing over the drugs to Supt. Simao, the officer said investigators remain skeptical about their boss’s action.

“Why is he interested in these drugs? Has someone requested him to get the drugs away from the officers? And where are the drugs now?

“Simao needs to come out and explain this to the public.” Simao has not responded to requests for interview.

Mangau said he was not aware of Simao’s action.

“What I can say is we’ve destroyed (dispose at sea) the drugs,” he said, adding officers from various departments, including his senior officers, witnessed the event.

Asked why the drugs were destroyed when investigations are still ongoing, Mangau claimed hazardous materials are normally done that way, and that they can use photos as evidence should the case go to court.

Police were only able to provide one photographic evidence of the disposal of the drugs into the sea when reporters demanded evidence, citing security concerns.

Drug raids & Investigation

Police document In-depth Solomons cited say raids investigators carried out in the Ranadi industrial area came following reports drugs have been stored, packaged and sold from various business premises there.

JJ Auto Parts, Sunny Hill Pump and Nozzle Service Company and Shorncliff (Lion Heart) were identified.

At JJ Auto Parts, police seized two syringes, three mobile phones, a smoking apparatus, and a packet of powder-like substance. 

At Sunny Hill Pump and Nozzle Service Company, they confiscated two packets of plastic packets, a pink tin container, a brown/red lid tin containing empty plastic packets, a homemade plastic measuring apparatus, a small black measuring scale, a white plastic container with empty plastic packets, a green cubicle plastic storage container, 18 small plastic packets containing crystalline substances, four packets of light green frog face tablets, and various other tablets in different colours and designs. Police documents say no suspicious items were found at Lion Heart when they searched the compound.

Forensic tests conducted found the presence of methamphetamine HCI, caffeine, ketamine HCL, calcium carbonate, and phosphoric acid in the suspicious items.

Several individuals were brought in for questioning during the raids.

They include Asians Ho Lou Wen, Ting We Huat, Eddie Kuen Yew; as well as locals Darren Maelaua, Zane Karawaisi, and George Lusibaea, police documents say.

During the interrogation, Ho Lou Wen, an employee of Sunny Hill Pump and Nozzle Service Company, admitted to the presence of a white substance, suspected to be a drug, but claimed it belonged to someone else.

He was arrested and held overnight. Ting We Huat, also from Sunny Hill, on the other hand, denied any knowledge of drug importation. 

Eddie Kuen Yew confessed to using the substance but denied involvement in its importation or distribution.

Zane Karawaisi, associate of Daren Maelaua and others, admitted to using the substance occasionally but denied involvement in its distribution. 

George Lusibaea denied any knowledge of the drug, stating he was unaware of why he was brought in by the police. 

Following the interrogation by investigators, Ho Lo Wen and Ting We Huat were formally arrested and placed at Central Watch House overnight. 

The next day, the two suspects were interviewed and a statement Under Caution was recorded for each of the suspects. 

However, police say they were later released without being charged.

“No conclusive evidence linking individuals to the drug importation or ownership has been found,” police said in their report on this investigation.

Meth and Ketamine

Meth is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant drug that affects a person’s central nervous system. 

Ketamine, on the other hand, is primarily used as a medication in medical settings for anesthesia and pain relief. But it can also be used illicitly as a recreational drug. It is often obtained illegally and may be abused for its dissociative and hallucinogenic effects.

In Fiji last month, police there seized more than four tonnes of meth in two separate busts, Radio New Zealand International reported.

The drug, with street value of up to FJ$2 billion, had been found in both crystal and powder form, stored in more than 300 containers of different sizes. Some were concealed in kava packets labelled as made in Fiji, while some were in boxes of tile adhesive.

RNZI says a 37-year-old businessman from Nadi was in custody in connection to the discovery.

Police in Australia also arrested a Chinese-born businesswoman, Mei Lin, last month for her alleged involvement in an attempt to smuggle 71.5kg of meth into Australia from Papua New Guinea in March last year.

Australian police intercepted the meth, valued at AUD$15 million, when the light plane carrying it stopped to refuel in the rural Australian community of Monto. 

Six people were arrested and charged in Australia, including two pilots. Eight others were charged in PNG, including a police officer and a soldier.

Commissioner Manga told reporters meth is now widely available on the market around the world today, and that the RSIPF are well aware of its spread and the syndicates running it.

He said Solomon Islands is a possible transit point for meth.

“When we become a transit point for meth, we become a user of the drug,” Mangau added.

It’s understood this is the first discovery of meth in Solomon Islands.

In 2018, Solomon Islands and Australian police seized more than 500 kilograms of cocaine from a yacht mooring in Honiara. The drugs were destined for Australia.

Low grade meth

While high grade meth can fetched drug traffickers millions of dollars, the quantity seized during the Ranadi raids are said to be low grade meth, those familiar with the product told In-depth Solomons.

“They look to me to likely be very low quality methamphetamine tablets,” a source familiar with the drug, and who had seen photos of the seized meth, observed.

“It’s typically produced by ethnic armed groups in the Myanmar border lands. It’s very cheap, but quite powerful. 

“They retail for maybe just a few USD a pill in Southeast Asia. People in the Australia and NZ markets don’t buy this stuff. They buy crystal.

“The fact that this looks to be poor quality product indicates to me that this is probably just for local distribution by a street-level supplier. 

“People take this stuff as a party drug but they also take it to help do hard physical work. Chinese or Malaysian workers might have a taste for it.

“If they are selling these, the target market would be the party crowd,” the source said.

Those who were questioned after the raids told police middlemen have been selling the meth in small plastic packets at SBD$2,500 to SBD$5,000.

This is done mostly among the local Asian community.

_{Drugs prepared for disposal by Police( Photo credit: RSIPF)}

Outdated laws

Despite the drug discovery and its importation into the country, police were unable to charge and prosecute the culprits.

Firstly, because police were unable to identify the drug supplier; and secondly, because meth and ketamine are not listed as dangerous drugs under existing laws.

Commissioner Mangau said police are working with relevant authorities to update our laws.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Law Reform Commission Philip Kanairara stated that the Dangerous Drugs Act, which did not list methamphetamine, ecstasy, and ketamine as “dangerous” drugs, has not been brought to the attention of the Commission for review. 

“The Law Reform Commission (LRC) receives its terms of reference (TOR) to review any law from the Minister responsible for Justice,” Kanairara told In-depth Solomons.

“The Dangerous Drugs Act is not an Act referred to the LRC for review,”  he explained.

As such, he said the Commission does not have the mandate to review this Act at this stage.

Kanairara said any initiative to review the Act must come from the Ministry of Health and Medical Services as it falls under their jurisdiction.

Regarding cases like the drug discoveries in Honiara, Kanairara proposed that relevant ministries could take action. 

“The responsible Minister could use section 13(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act to proclaim these new drugs as falling under the Act. 

“Additionally, under section 34 of the Customs and Excise Act, the Minister could add the new drugs to the Second Schedule of the Act as prohibited or restricted goods,” Kanairara explains.

Danger to community

In the wake of increasing drug trafficking across the Pacific, Commissioner Mangau called on the local community to assist the police by keeping an eye out for suspicious activities in our waters.

“We all know the dangers of meth and what it poses to our community.

“If our youths get addicted to meth, it can destroy our community.”

Mangau said they are working closely with regional agencies to track down traffickers.

Police investigators have cited two recent examples of meth cases in Honiara in their report on the Ranadi drug raids.

In both cases, they say two young meth users drove vehicles into two individuals – killing them in the process.