Cocaine awaits test

The destruction of the 500 kilograms of cocaine seized in Honiara in September last year is awaiting forensic drug examination in Australia.

Samples were sent to Australia for forensic examination by the Australian Federal Police to determine the exact purity of the substances towards the end of last year.

Police Commissioner Mathew Varley said the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force has a plan in places to destroy the drugs but is waiting for the test results.

“We are working on a plan for the destruction of the cocaine locally, however we’ve had some delays associated with the process of testing the cocaine in Australia,” he said.

“We’ve had to send some samples to Australian for chemical profiling and also for their court purposes, we can’t destroy the cocaine until a chemist certificate is issued.”

By: Charlie Salini.