Crime wave in Majuro could be linked to funding drug habits

BY GIFF JOHNSON
Marshall Islands Correspondent

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — A series of burglaries in the last two weeks of February in Majuro has heightened concern about drug-motivated crime and the need for greater law enforcement response.

Multiple break-ins and attempted break-ins at local businesses and one apartment in Majuro, coupled with an individual reportedly attempting to sell an apparently stolen washing machine at a local takeout shop, raised worry about drugs fueling crime, as addicts seek items they can sell for quick cash to purchase more drugs.

The influx of cocaine from south and central America — professionally packaged one-kilo bricks of cocaine, sometimes marked with the name of a drug cartel for identification — that float into remote and outer islands and often do not get turned over to law enforcement, have become a source of a serious drug problem in the nation’s capital.

A powerful “narco boat” washed into Arno without cargo on Feb. 7. Photo by Arthmen Laukon

The spate of break-ins included a resident of a third-floor apartment reporting that he was broken into and a drone was stolen. Businesses broken into included a takeout store near the Lanai and some of the largest wholesale and retail companies in Majuro, including Cost Price, Formosa and Home Garden.

At Home Garden, the would-be burglar attempted to break in through the roof, but fell through instead, alerting workers who called police. At Cost Price, vigilant staff discovered a man trying to hide in the store at closing time. At Formosa, would-be thieves broke a window to gain entrance and had loaded up a shopping cart with cases of cigarettes, a large safe and other goods when they were discovered and ran, leaving everything behind.

In the first two months of this year, the Marshall Islands has seen drugs roll into remote outer atolls on two occasions, according to law enforcement, while last year saw the most-ever cocaine packages wash up on multiple islands.

One law official said that most of the crimes at the end of February appeared to be drug related. Drug dealers who get hold of large quantities of cocaine turn it into crack cocaine rocks that sell for $5 on the street.

Against this backdrop a group of Marshall Islands government entities is seeking funding to establish a police training academy in Majuro that would aim to increase the number and quality of officers being recruited to police forces in Majuro. Most Marshall Islands police receive few professional development opportunities. In decades past, the U.S. Trust Territory government supported occasional police academies that brought together a few officers for training from all of the islands from Palau to the Marshall Islands.

But the plan being conceived and put on the table by the Marshall Islands Police Department and the Office of National Security in partnership with the College of the Marshall Islands seeks to establish the first-ever academy inn Majuro to be an ongoing training and recruitment center for law enforcement. Although no numbers were made available, it was reported by law enforcement that the number of officers in the Marshall Islands Police Department has declined in number since 2019. The police academy proposal was expected to be discussed at a World Bank-supported Development Partners Roundtable meeting at the Marshall Islands Resort in Majuro at the end of February. mbj

Crime wave in Majuro could be linked to funding drug habits