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| Pic and report: Post Courier newspaper PNG |
Police Minister Jelta Wong said yesterday: “We are working with our international counterparts to curb these transit routes.”
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Police have identified possible routes used by international drug cartels in Papua New Guinea to smuggle drugs into Australia.
His comments come after a PNG woman, Dulcie Wagambio Witchard, 34, was arrested and charged in Australia with dealing in the proceeds of crime amounting to A$10,000 (about K24,000) in Brisbane, Australia.
According to Australian Federal Police, the conspiracy to import more than 300 kilograms of cocaine showed that it would be brought into Australia from Peru via Singapore and PNG.
Two Australian men were also arrested in Sydney last Friday and were expected to be extradited from Sydney to Brisbane to face drug trafficking charges.
Dulcie Wagambio Witchard faced court last week and was released on bail and her passport confiscated.
She is the second Papua New Guinea woman to be held in Australia over drug-related charges after Mary Yawari who was sentenced to nine and half years in jail for smuggling four kilograms of methylamphetamine, or ice, into Australia.
Witchard was charged after police executed search warrants at Airlie Beach in north Queensland and Woodridge, south of Brisbane.
AFP Queensland commander Sharon Cowden said the alleged conspiracy was foiled after a year-long investigation with international law enforcement.
Commander Cowden said the drugs had an estimated street value of $105 million (K254m), according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The men were arrested during raids in the Sydney suburbs of Maroubra and Rozelle.
Commander Cowden said the drugs were to be imported by small craft to Australia via the Torres Strait, the ABC reported.
She said the men could both face life sentences if found guilty.
The AFP said its investigation began in June last year after they identified an Australian and PNG-based syndicate suspected of planning to import drugs from Peru.
Commander Cowden said the syndicate tried to smuggle cocaine into Australia late last year but were unsuccessful.
She said while the syndicate moved to set up a second importation, more than 1.2 tons of cocaine was seized by law enforcement officers in Peru, ABC reported.
Commander Cowden said Peruvian authorities also arrested a businessman thought to have conspired with the Australians.
She said police also intended to pursue legal proceedings against a PNG man, who was allegedly part of the conspiracy to import the cocaine into Australia.
Investigations were continuing and authorities were expecting to make more arrests.
LINK TO THE STORY HERE
Post Courier Newspaper report (June 2018)
