A hard drugs crisis is the last thing PNG needs

But it does raise the question - have any other drug syndicates being successful?

The PNG police force is woefully underresourced.

My friend Jimmy Maladina is MP for a vast electorate in the Milne Bay Province. It comprises hundreds of islands, some inhabited. I guess Jimmy has 100,000 constituents.

For the WHOLE electorate he has just ONE police officer!

As Jimmy points out the seas between the islands are frequented by vessels travelling from the north to Australia.

One policeman would have zero capacity to monitor the dozens of yachts and boats moving across the vast area which had a key role in the Second World War where Australian and US forces successfully repelled the Japanese advance.

But how did the drugs get to Bulolo which is many kilometres from the coast?

Part of our success in World War Two was the support given by coastal communities along the northern coast.

One wonders if it might not be time to engage alert villagers to watch for unusual arrivals!

Some years ago I warned that our border with Papua is porous. One aircraft crash landed near Port Moresby when its cargo of cannabis was too heavy.

The other way drugs get to Australia is via boat travelling the short distance from the PNG mainland across the Torres Strait to Thursday Island and the Gulf.

Border force has reduced this route we hope. But vigilance is needed.