Sepik trio nabbed by cops in Madang

By JAYNE SAFIHAO
POLICE patrolling the North Coast Road in Madang last Thursday arrested three youths after they were caught in possession of a dinghy full of store goods valued at more than K20,000, 5kg of marijuana, a revolver and six live rounds of ammunition at Megiar Daka market.
Acting provincial police commander and Jomba police station commander Steven Kaipa confirmed last Friday.
He said the arrest followed a tip-off.
Senior constable Adam Yawing, responsible for curbing home-brew-related crimes, said locals at the market grew suspicious of the “new faces” seen loitering at the pontoon.
They alerted police after seeing a dinghy full of new store goods, including numerous treated mosquito nets, clothing and small goods.
Yawing with the assistance of two auxiliary police officer, they approached the dinghy and questioned the three occupants, two aged 23 and one 19, all claiming to be residents of Sisiak 3 of Angoram in East Sepik
The youths had in their possession a .38 revolver hidden in a bilum underneath cargo, a plastic containing 325 nearly rolled one-pack rolls of marijuana and the five tightly compressed 1kg bundles of marijuana wrapped in newspapers.
The youths claimed, when questioned by police, they were heading for Angoram and the goods in the dinghy were theirs, with the boat borrowed from a person living in Sisiak.
Kaipa said word has been sent to the owner of the dinghy to come with receipts showing purchases of the goods before they could be released to him.
The three are in police custody at Jomba police station awaiting court appearances.
All three are charged with three counts each of having in their possession dangerous and illicit substances, six unlicensed ammunition and one firearm.