Drug problems

Samiu Vaipulu says that includes getting countries like Australia to rehabilitate convicted criminals before they're deported to Pacific island countries like his.

Tonga's Speaker had tried to introduce the death penalty for certain drugs offences, to crack down on drug traffickers in the Kingdom.

Concerns continue to mount that Tonga is facing a local crisis, with a growing number of people, including children, becoming addicted to illegal substances.

Illicit drug discoveries have increased by 13 percent on the same time last year according to Mr Seruiratu.

The minister told parliament that in the past two years, nearly $US30-million worth of hard drugs had been seized at the border.

Only last week, he said, the navy and police were deployed to an outer island, where they found shipping containers packed with drugs.

That's just the latest in a string of recent finds in Fiji, including a large bust in the hull of yacht, and bricks of cocaine that started washing up on beaches.

A two-day meeting in Nuku'alofa last week followed earlier consultations in March this year, and police say it's clear there is a need for a significant shift from a previous reactive approach towards more prevention and rehabilitation.

Police Superintendent Ashley Fua spoke to RNZI after the meeting about the new National Policy on Illicit Drugs and how the police approach is likely to change.

Fua said the Forum Secretariat provided the technical assistance for the consultation and drafting of the policy.

In confirming a rise in crime by drug-influenced teenagers, Mr Pohiva said all the power to arrest and charge people lay with the police commissioner.

He was reported by Radio Tonga saying the police minister knew who the drug smugglers were but he could not act on that information because he had no authority.

Mr Pohiva and his government have been in a protracted dispute with King Tupou VI and the nobility, claiming key appointments such as the police commissioner and attorney general should be made by the government and not the King's Privy Council.