The Governor for Oro province wants the government to take a tougher approach in law enforcement to address what he says is the alarming increase in the activities of manufacturing and distribution of hard drugs in the country. Governor Gary Juffa during grievance debate in parliament last Friday 16th February, told parliament that Papua New Guinea (PNG) used to be a transit point, but today it has become a production point for these illegal hard drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. These he says are very addictive drugs and cheap to sell on streets. “This is frightening, in the past what we observed were cartels flying in what we call ‘Cooks’ to cook the drugs in the country before exporting them on log ships, on yachts and other small crafts,” said the governor. “Now they have their own cooks trained here to do that and are operating here and their illegal funds are converted into legitimate money. They are buying properties, running legitimate businesses like restaurants; this is already happening here.” The former Head for Intelligence turned politician, said what is more frightening is the growing youth population having access to these hard drugs. “Now, if these cheap drugs hit the streets and it’s accessible to our growing youth bulge, who are restless and unoccupied, and if you don’t do anything about them, they will become a serious concern for us.” He said in 2008 when he was still the Director for Intelligence, he wrote many assessments to the government of that day about this emerging problem. “I feel that we take serious stock of this situation and address it with the severity that it needs,” said Juffa. The governor suggested that the government must put in serious efforts to empower the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary (RPNGC) by developing its capacity that it needs to address this growing issue. He was also concerned that the Transnational Crime Investigation Unit that was established in 2006 by the RPNGC, PNG Customs and the Australian Federal Police, was left to deteriorate over time and therefore, wants the government to supported them develop further, so to carryout investigations into transnational crimes and illicit drugs.