The extent of the infiltration of the Fiji Police by drug kingpins has cast doubt in the minds of Australian Federal Police officers about whether the force can be trusted with information sharing, according to a new report by The Australian newspaper.
The story – by the paper’s New South Wales Editor, Stephen Rice – will fuel existing concerns by the RFMF that its recently-formed Joint Task Force with the Fiji Police is also being compromised by close links between police officers and senior figures in the drug trade.
Grubsheet understands the extent of the corruption of police officers has already triggered fears in the upper echelons of the RFMF that some of its front line troops assigned to the Joint Task Force are either being tempted by bribes or have already been bought off.
The Australian also ups the pressure on the RFMF by gaining an exclusive interview with the family of the murdered accused drug dealer, Jone Vakarisi, who was tortured and beaten to death in military custody on April 17. They are calling on the Australian government to suspend cooperation with Fiji’s military and police until Vakarisi’s killers are brought to justice.
Both angles are extremely embarrassing for Fiji as Australia tries to build a coalition of Asia Pacific nations to fight the unprecedented threat from the transnational crime syndicates behind the drug trade and their local agents, facilitators and dealers.
Trust between the two countries and their respective police forces is obviously essential for the effectiveness of that fight. Fiji simply cannot afford to be cast as a weak link and retain any credibility at all.
The extrajudicial killing of Jone Vakarisi will also be a thorn in the relationship until the RFMF personnel responsible are charged. Five weeks after his murder, that still hasn’t happened and his family naturally want to know why.
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