A new trend in drug trafficking has emerged, where traffickers pose as pastors and elderly women to evade Fiji’s border control officials. The Minister for Immigration and Home Affairs, Pio Tikoduadua, has highlighted this issue as a growing challenge for law enforcement and border security teams.
According to Mr. Tikoduadua, these traffickers frequently use international airports in Fiji to transit and bring in drugs. “Some of them are impersonating as a pastor or pretending to be an elderly woman to exploit the system,” he noted. “They constantly change their appearances, and we must ensure we catch them.”
He praised the country’s enforcement agents for their efforts in protecting Fiji’s borders from drug-related activities. Mr. Tikoduadua emphasized the importance of community involvement in the national action plan against drugs, stating that tackling this issue is a collective responsibility, not solely that of the police and business leaders, many of whom have the means to assist in this fight.