Police seize drug, ’brew

By SYLVESTER WEMURU
POLICE from Tangori police station in East Sepik on Saturday confiscated a large amount of marijuana and home-brewed liquor at Kwarip village in West Yangoru, Yangoru-Saussia.
East Sepik police commander Supt Albert Beli said when the policemen went and searched a house they discovered seven 10 kilogramme bags of marijuana, 20 500ml bottles and two 20 litres of homebrew (steam) and sugar and yeast in a two-bedroom house.
The police, led by First Const Moses Pilai, acted on a tip-off.
Pilai said the policemen went to the village early in the morning but the occupants of the house were not there.
He said it was believed that the youths had left the house when they saw the police.
Pilai said from the information that police got, the house that they confiscated items from had been supplying marijuana and homebrew to the villagers.
They were also transporting it to other parts of the district.
“The policemen burnt down the house because it had been a breeding place for illegal activities,” he said.
“The house will be there and those that are involved in that business will influence the others and the boys growing up in that village will be involved in producing steam and marijuana which is not good.”
Beli said police had ordered the ward councillor of that village to identify the owners of the house and those who were involved in that illegal business and report them to police.
He said the state of emergency order on a liquor ban was clear and those who were producing and consuming alcohol would be caught and brought to justice.
“I want the ward councillors in each ward in the province to help the police and report such activities to the police,” he said.
Beli said he was happy with what the Kwarip community had done to assist police to weed out illegal and harmful activities and urged all the villages in the province to do the same.