[File Photo]

Police Commissioner Brigadier General Sitiveni Qiliho says a lot has been invested in the fight against hard drugs such as methamphetamine and to say that the issue is getting out of control is uncalled for.

The Police Chief made a comment following a statement by National Federation Party President Pio Tikoduadua, who said that Fiji is being ravaged by the diabolical spread of hard drugs like methamphetamine because of the Fiji First government’s colossal failure to take decisive action to stop the spread of drugs.

In the statement, NFP President Pio Tikoduadua questioned the effectiveness of both border control enforcement as well as the effectiveness of the Fiji Police Force to combat this scourge, which is causing irreparable damage to the social and moral fabric of the society.

He questioned why the FijiFirst government and police were only paying lip service to the fight against methamphetamine importation and manufacturing.

Tikoduadua stated that the government and police were solely focused on raiding farms in rural areas and the maritime province, particularly Kadavu, to uproot and seize marijuana and charge the farmers.

He made the statement in response to a Vice World News investigation titled “Meth is Turning Fiji from a Tropical Paradise to a Narco’s Playground.”

Brigadier General Qiliho has reacted angrily to the NFP’s assertion that the situation is out of control.

“For National Federation Party to come up with such a statement is uncalled for and I don’t normally react to political statements but in this case, we need to put it into perspective that government has invested a lot and so has Police Force and we don’t go around publishing this. And I gather from the report that they have stated that we seem to be only targeting Kadavu. No, there are ongoing operations as we speak, that goes on in Kadavu, in the Navosa hill, goes on into Tukavesi and other areas where green drugs or marijuana has come up.”

Brigadier General Qiliho added to say that the situation is out of control and is rubbishing the efforts of the Police Force and other organizations they work with.