BY LORETTA B MANELE
Leader of Opposition and Member of Parliament for Aoke/Langalanga, Mathew Wale says there needs to be serious efforts to establish the international drug smuggling routes into the country.
A statement from the Office of the Leader of Opposition on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 said Wale highlighted this in parliament on Monday, November 24, 2025 following a response from the Minister of Police, Jimson Tanangada on abandoned submarine vessels found in our waters.
Wale questioned the Minister of Police regarding RSIPF’s findings from abandoned submarine vessels.
In response, Minister of Police, Jimson Tanangada informed parliament that two vessels were discovered in Isabel and Malaita provinces respectively.
Findings from these vessels, according to the Minister show that the submarines were believed to be transporting drugs into the country.
This revelation raised serious concerns from the Opposition bench as the findings are yet to establish where the submarines originated from.
Wale said a thorough analysis must be done to establish where the submarines originated.
“There are suspicions that it must have been originated from Columbia and to the pacific and it is very important that collaborative efforts are done between RSIPF and our neighbouring countries,” said Wale.
He stressed that Solomon Islands currently has a serious drug problem and it will only worsen if we do not track down the smugglers.
“We need tougher laws to deal with this and that is why it is urgent to bring the amendment to the penal code with urgency,” he said.
Tanangada told parliament that Solomon Islands shares international borders with other countries where there are high transhipments of illegal drugs.
He also informed the house that they are working with international partners to ascertain the routes.
“We cannot substantiate if the vessels were meant to travel to Solomon Islands or overload in one of the neighbouring countries and drifted to our shores,” he said.
Wale thanked the Minister of Police for informing parliament on the findings and urged them to make sure these people are caught and face tough penalties.
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