Samoa’s Ministry of Police and Prisons is preparing to introduce mandatory drugs tests for all officers.
Acting Police Commissioner, Papali’i Monalisa Tia’i Keti, made the disclosure at a press conference to publicize the haul of drugs and money seized during a raid, last week.
She said, the ministry is in talks with anti-doping specialists to develop a drug testing regime for the proposed initiative.
According to Papali’i, they want to identify those officers using drugs and expel them from the force.
The move follows an internal investigation into 20 officers for alleged illicit drug use based on public reports.
Three officers were to face the Internal Police Tribunal but two have opted to resign from the force and one is challenging the findings of the investigation.
The other 17 officers were cleared in the investigation and are back working.
Papali’i said, it was high time the police force is subjected to regular drug tests to allay any public suspicions of internal illegal activities with the force.
