More officers needed to combat drug trafficking

A senior police official has called for more officers to be posted to the Tewai-Siassi district in Morobe to help deal with drug trafficking, arms smuggling and transnational crime.
Morobe police commander Superintendent Alex N’Drasal said he had discussed with Tewai-Siassi MP Kobby Bomareo that the district needed 120 officers be stationed at Lablab on Siassi island and other outstations in the district.
“Of that number, 20 will be in the composite response team on the island while 100 will be distributed in the district,” he said.
He said 60 police quarters would be built at the Lablab government station. “We cannot execute the plan as yet because of funding constraints we are faced with,” N’Drasal said.
The Sialum police station is supposed to have four police officers but they are not there yet.
N’Drasal and Bomareo also agreed to recruit police reservists from the three local level governments. The idea is to address cargo cult activities which have been causing law and order problems in the district.
“With the swearing in of the 44 village court officials in the District Development Authority meeting last weekend, I think we will have to have them trained as policemen to serve in the LLGs,” he said.