With regards to the recent allegation levelled by the Commissioner of Sports in Rodrigues about how some Police Officers posted in Rodrigues are involved in drug trafficking, Buisson Leopold, an elected member of Rodrigues, has asked the Honorable Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, Home Affairs and External Communications, Minister for Rodrigues, Outer Islands and Territorial Integrity whether he will, for the benefit of the House, ask from the Commissioner of Police, whether an inquiry has been initiated.
In his reply, the Prime Minister told the House that in a report submitted by the Divisional Commander Rodrigues on 27 May 2022, it was stated that the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Arts and Culture held a meeting on 25 May 2022 at Port Mathurin on “strategies to combat Drugs in Rodrigues”. 25 persons comprising Public Officers, representatives of NGOs as well as Police Officers from Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit and National Coast Guard based in Rodrigues were in attendance.
The Commissioner of Police stated that 5 kgs of heroin had arrived in Rodrigues, Synthetic drugs are manufactured by police officers and put on sale through Informants, who are unwilling to give information to the Police because of their lack of trust in them as well as the risk of leakage of information by the Police.
The Commissioner of Police has further informed that the Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Arts and Culture was approached on 23 June 2022 to give a written statement in relation to the allegations he made on 25 May 2022 but he stated that he would give a statement at a later stage. He was anew contacted on 08 July 2022 and his secretary informed that the Commissioner would give an appointment by the following week. On 11 July 2022, he was further contacted by the Police and he stated that he did not find it necessary to give a statement on the matter. However, he is expecting the Police to carry out an investigation and take appropriate actions.
He also stressed that most of the drug cases in Rodrigues are related to the consumption of cannabis. Between January and 07 July 2022, 5 cases related to heroin have been reported in Rodrigues. As regards to synthetic cannabis, no case has been reported during this period.
The Prime Minister states that other authorities as well as NGOs are implementing drug preventive measures in Rodrigues. “I wish to highlight that the Commission for Youth and Sports has in September 2015 set up a Committee on “Drug and Substance Abuse Prevention” to develop adaptable strategies, take remedial actions, devise training programmes for young people in Rodrigues and to carry out preventive and remedial actions in collaboration with other partners to combat illicit drug use and trafficking in Rodrigues. The Commission has also released a Report on Preventive Actions against Drugs and Alcohol in Rodrigues for the period September 2018 to December 2021 and launched an Action Plan on Drug and Substance Abuse Prevention among the youth in Rodrigues in 2020.
