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Undercover detectives followed a shipment of drugs from Eastern
Highlands to Morobe and NCD before arresting a drug trafficker in the
Western province close to the Australia and Indonesian border on Monday.
They recovered 8kg of parched marijuana plants from a plane in Daru and
detained a woman.
Detectives believed the bust could uncover yet another criminal ring
involving drug trafficking and arms smuggling between Papua New Guinea,
Indonesia and Australia.
According to police sources in Daru, the latest arrest reflects the
intensity of the illicit drug trade brought on by problems affecting the
law and justice sector in Western province.
The police station cells in Daru were in an appalling state due to lack
of maintenance and the jail was also closed because the facility is
unhygienic and unfit for human occupancy.
The breakdown in the law and justice services in the Western province
was giving rise to crime and drug activities, according to sources in
Daru.
A team of detectives were sent to Daru recently to assist the local
police to combat crime in the province.
Detective Senior Constable Robert Wane from the National Drug Squad in
Port Moresby said the people arrested for summary offences and other
crimes would have to be transported back into Port Moresby to be
prosecuted, detained and presented before the courts.
Despite the setbacks, Mr Wane said they were using all available means
and ways to clamp down on illegal activities in the province.
Mr Wane believed dealers and traders from Australia’s Queensland had
links in PNG and were using people to smuggle drugs from the highlands
to the Western province and into Australia.
Investigations are continuing.
 
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