Police charged 1,179 people last year for being in possession of illicit drugs and 31 were juveniles.

A total of 1,223 drug cases were recorded in the country last year.

The Fiji Police Force says this is an increase of 16 percent compared to 2018.

Police Chief of Operations ACP Maretino Qiolevu stressed that the increase in drug cases is a result of more people coming forward to report the matter and assisting police to crack down on drug trade deals.

He adds that most of the information received by Police has led to drug arrests.

“Of course there are other issues in terms of information that does come in. The challenges and verification of this information. This information we need to verify well so that our raids are successful.”

ACP Qiolevu also highlighted that officers involved in drug cases will also face the full brunt of the law.

“For our officer who we are still suspecting are involved in drugs, very soon we will carry out a drug test. Our officers will carry out drug tests on those that are being suspected to be involved in drugs and when they are found positive they will also face the full brunt of the law.”

Qiolevu says it’s encouraging to see that they continue to get tip-offs from the public regarding possible drug cases which helps in curbing the issue of drugs in Fiji.