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Swabs taken on suspected items on the yacht – Mo Chuisle – now possessed by the government which was used by the three alleged drug traffickers have turned out positive for the illegal drug— apetamin.
On his first press conference with the media after being confirmed as the new commissioner of Police Mostyn Mangau faced grilling from the media on whether RSIPF was aware that the three foreigners who illegally entered the country from New Caledonia last month were alleged drug smugglers.
But Mangau said: “We had information on the same day the boat had arrived here.”
He said the information was passed on to RSIPF through the regional body that deals with transnational crime.
Mangau said the yacht was connected to a drug syndicate that the region was investigating after it was alleged that Mo Chuisle offloaded drug onto another boat near Norfolk Island bound for Australia. The yacht was later arrested by Australian police with two crew members whilst Mo Chuisle headed for New Caledonia and later Solomon Islands.
Mo Chuisle and her crew three-member crew were arrested by local authorities for breaching the State of Public Emergency. They were quarantined for 14 days before being taken to court where they were found guilty and fined $6,000 each. The trio, two British nationals and one American were deported last Friday and were arrested in Brisbane for alleged drug trafficking.
Mangau said the swabs his officers carried out on the suspected items had returned positive for drug and puzzles that they found in their search were also connected to the puzzles and drugs that AFP found in the other yacht.
Mo Chuisle was used by the alleged drug dealers Mathew Adam Carter, Charles James Ewan Glenny and Braeton Hunter Mitchell to illegally entered the country.
They were found guilty by Chief Magistrate Ema Garo – who in her ruling stated that the circumstances of the offending by the defendants in this case should be dealt with by a way of a fine. All three were found guilty with one count of prohibition of entry of non-citizens contrary to the Emergency Powers (Covid-19) (Prohibition of Non-Citizens). They were ordered to pay a fine of $6,000 each with the owner/skipper of the yacht paid an extra $100, as he was found guilty under the Customs Act.
News@SBMOnline2020
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