"Once a week, according to residents, a black Dodge truck with tinted windows pulled up to a tent on the edge of the community, a dense maze of tiny shacks connected by muddy paths, slick from the persistent summer rain. A man stepped out, swapped drugs for cash with his local contact, and drove off. Dealers repacked the white crystals into tiny zip-top bags, no bigger than a child's pinkie, before doling them out for about $22 each."
"Given that almost all his friends were on meth, he said, getting addicted was "only a matter of time." For years, law enforcement partners and the United Nations had warned Fiji that international criminal syndicates were exploiting its geography as a South Pacific island, using it as a transshipment point for drugs originating in Southeast Asia and Latin America and destined for New Zealand,"
International criminal syndicates have used Fiji's location as a transshipment point for methamphetamines from Southeast Asia and Latin America bound for New Zealand, Australia and North America. Shipments arrive regularly and dealers repack and sell meth in small zip-top bags for about $22 each. The drug has infiltrated impoverished settlements lacking plumbing, electricity, and sufficient food. Users include adolescents and children, with reports of addiction among teenagers and users as young as ten. Methamphetamine is commonly injected, needles are often shared, and safe-sex practices are neglected, contributing to an escalating HIV public health crisis. Poor drug education and communal living norms exacerbate transmission risks.
Read at The Washington Post
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]