THE Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIF) has confirmed receiving report on a large shipment of arms as speculated by the media last week.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) National Security and Operation Support (NSOS) Ian Vaevaso during the Oversight Committee radio-talk back show on Saturday, said RSIPF has received report on that but decline to make further comments on the matter.
From the information gathered by this paper, the secret but deadly cargo arrived in the country recently and was offloaded outside the international wharf at Point Cruz, apparently in the dead of night.
Due to the sensitive nature of the consignment, Solomon Star was unable to establish certain details such as who imported it and why. The consignment is said to be under the custody of a certain government agency.
“What baffles those who handle it on its arrival is the fact that it never followed the normal process of paperwork to clear it. For example, who will be billed for the charges because they don’t even know who imported it and why,” one source told Solomon Star.
Our investigation can confirm that the shipment consisted of four large wooden crates, which were brought in by a commercial vessel, allegedly a log ship.
Each of the crate measures between 1.5metres to 2metres in width and a metre and a half in height, Solomon Star was told.
The Solomon Star was unable to establish what type of weapons there were in the four wooden crates as all came in a container. It is also unclear whether this consignment was the first.
It is understood a senior member of the Opposition was briefed on the matter last Tuesday.
By FOLLET JOHN
Newsroom, Honiara
