Opposition leader Inia Seruiratu has described the recent statistics released by police in relation to crime and drugs as “shocking.”

He also labelled as “alarming” the recent statement by Acting Police Commissioner Juki Fong Chew that the overall crime rate has risen by 10 per cent in January alone.

“What is even more alarming is the increase in crime against women by 31%,” Mr Seruiratu said.

“To top it all off we are now informed that drug cases rose by an astronomical 94% and this is a serious concern because majority of the cases are within our communities, in Fiji itself amongst the people we interact with every day.”

The Opposition leader said the authorities must be realistic about the drug crisis in the country.

‘We must acknowledge the reality of our fight against drugs, as one of the developing countries and being the hub of the Pacific, we are vulnerable to these issues.

“I will say this once again; drugs will continue to be a huge crisis and the war against it will not be easy.

“We need to find avenues of how we can improve our capacity to fight drugs because we will continue to see an influx due to its lucrative price.”