Ritika Pratap 
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Sakeo Raikaci
The draft Counter Narcotics Bureau Bill should include all substances classified globally as illicit drugs to make testing easier for Fiji.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Sakeo Raikaci says this will be one of his recommendations for the draft Bill currently before Parliament.
DCP Raikaci states this will allow their forensics team to classify substances as illicit drugs that are prohibited for use in Fiji.
He adds that currently, their testing machines are unable to detect some substances that are classified as illicit in other countries.
The DCP states that these new drugs need to be added to their library.
“So when some of the drugs that are coming to Fiji, they have not been installed in our library. So when we send drugs across to our forensic science services for testing, the machine does not read those, because they were not installed in our library.”
DCP Raikaci gave an example of white substances that washed ashore in Yasawa in April, which yielded different results when tested.
“So when we did our initial testing, it gave us some positive that it is illicit drugs. So when it went to our forensic science, it gave an evidence that it is not illicit drugs. Why? Because in our library, those chemicals have not been installed.”
The DCP also says that another recommendation for the Narcotics Bill is to introduce harsher penalties for drug abuse cases to deter potential offenders.
The Counter Narcotics Bureau Bill will replace the Illicit Drugs Control Act once enacted by Parliament.
