Police nab drug mules
The National, Monday July 13th, 2015
POLICE in Gulf have arrested seven men who tried to smuggle 10.5 kilogrammes of marijuana from Okapa, Eastern Highlands, to sell in Port Moresby during the Pacific Games.
Gulf provincial police commander Inspector Lincoln Gerari said the seven had been charged with being in possession of dangerous drugs.
They had travelled on foot from Okapa to Kerema in Gulf on and caught a truck to Port Moresby.
Police caught them at a roadblock at Malalaua on Saturday, July 4, at 2pm.
“Three youths from Okapa and four from Meii village in Gulf followed a jungle track from Menyama through Kaintiba in Morobe then to Kerema on foot.
“The drugs were brought from Okapa,” Gerari said.
“The drug was to be sold in Port Moresby during the Pacific Games.”
He estimated the street value of the drugs if sold in Port Moresby to be around K50,000.
“This is a warning to drug traffickers from the Highlands region entering Gulf.
“Enough is enough. I have very limited manpower and resources and I do not want to waste resources on going after drug traffickers in the bush,” Gerari said.
Gerari appealed to the Government to impose tougher penalties for drug trafficking because of its adverse effects on youths who consumed it.