Three drug smugglers fined K1,500 each

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THREE drug smugglers have been fined K1,500 each by the Daru District Court for selling marijuana in Western.
Daru police station commander Inspector Soiwa Ricker said the three collected K15,650 from their sale.
Paul Poea, 30, Salet Kewa, 27 and Mek Pupudui, all from Mt Hagen, Western Highlands, were fined K1,500 each in default six months imprisonment for selling marijuana at the Semabo, Awaba and Balimo villages of the Middle Fly district.
“They smuggled marijuana from Mt Hagen to the remote communities due to the high demand for Highlands-grown marijuana,” he said.
The three were arrested at Semabo village at about 3am on Aug 9 after police were tipped off.
The policemen departed Balimo station at 11pm on the Aug 8 for Semabo village.
They went to Pupudui’s house and arrested them.
Pupudui is married to a woman from Semabo who has also been charged with selling marijuana in Balimo.
“She had picked up a parcel from a plane containing marijuana that came from Mt Hagen and was selling them.
“Police arrested her with the K2,558 she collected from the sales. She is now detained at the Balimo rural lock up and will be transported to Daru to appear before the district court.”