SUVA, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A group of Chinese police officers started on Monday to train their Fijian police counterparts to tackle drugs cases in the island nation.
Speaking at the opening of the two-week training on Monday, Fiji's Deputy Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said that 33 police officers are at the training and will incorporate work from the frontline together with the investigation and prosecution of drug cases.
"The golden opportunity that many of our officers have been trained is timely and in line with our effort. For the drug dealers to know that as they build up, as they try to make their empire, we need also to have our police officers trained so that we can counter them for them to know that Fiji is safe for all of us," Tudravu said.
The Police Forensics will also be part of the training run by the eight police officers from China's Shandong Province Narcotics Team. The aim of the training is to help Fijian police officers enhance their knowledge in the fight against drugs.
Tudravu said that they continue to provide training to their officers as it is important to counter drug dealers.
The impact of hard drugs to a small island nation such as Fiji is devastating, said Fijian police chief recently.
"The impacts of this on a small country like ours will be very devastating, productive people made unproductive, the strain on the health system, the strain on the economy will be huge," Fiji's Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho told 15 police officers before their departure for China last week for a two-week-long specialized drug investigation training.
Qiliho said that the shattering impact is his biggest worry as the smuggling of hard drugs continues to evolve every day in Fiji.
The police commissioner is thankful for the training provided by the Chinese government as it will enhance Fiji's work of fighting against the smuggling of hard drugs into the country.
Last year, the Fijian police seized drugs worth over 94 million U.S. dollars in the island nation.
