To ensure student cadets are vigilant of illegal activities they may counter while at sea, a two-hour awareness session was organised by Fiji National University’s (FNU) Fiji Maritime Academy and the Fiji Police Force.

The interactive session was conducted by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department’s (CID) Drug Enforcement Unit, which also highlighted the catastrophic consequences involved in such illegal activities.

Students were briefed on various procedures, including actions to be taken prior to port entry and while in port and the actions to take when drugs are found onboard.

Inspector Usaia Donu, who conducted the training, warned the cadets that professional drug traffickers would target seafarers as potential drug carriers.

“We have done a lot of investigations and found out that sea has been the most opted route for these drug traffickers,” said Inspector Donu.

“Our investigations show that at least 50 per cent of the traffickers use seafarers in hauling of the illicit drugs over the years. Sadly, most of these seamen do not know that by doing this, they are putting their career and life at risk,” he added.

While addressing the students, the CID Police Officer reiterated that the maritime industry has inadvertently played an unfortunate role in drug trafficking, and he encouraged the students to refrain from being transporters of drugs.

“You might be in the vessel, and someone says hey brother do you have marijuana there, or probably other fancy names that have been given to it. I know some of you are already hearing this. We the Police Officers know it, we are aware of it,” he mentioned.

“If these illegal commodities come to our shores, it can affect the economy, and once the economy is affected, the nation will be affected as well,” added Inspector Donu.

Stage 5 Deck Student at FMA, Patrick Rafaele, who was part of the awareness workshop commended the Fiji Police Force for taking out their valuable time in informing the students of the consequences of such illegal activity.

“For us seafarers, we need a police clearance for a career in the maritime industry, and we have to note that we cannot excel in this career if we do not have a clean police record. What I have learnt is that if we are caught doing such illegal activities, we have to say goodbye to our career,” said Rafaele.

The FMA student further added that big money involved in drug trafficking could easily entice the seamen into the drug market. However, he encouraged his peers to identify the good and bad and to be mindful of the actions they take while at sea.

“The presentations made by the representatives from the Fiji Police Force was very informative. One thing I would like to keep reminding my colleagues is that if you get into drugs, you will be ruined of your health, your wealth and your spiritual life as well,” he said.