A Tongan government authority says it will inform its international counterpart following the departure of a prison officer from the kingdom who had been purportedly involved in drug-related activities.
The revelation comes amid a major investigation into the Prison authorities’ alleged involvement in “accepting bribery and aiding and abetting trafficking illicit drugs into prisons”.
“This is a grave violation of the good order security of prison”, His Majesty’s Prisons at Hu‘atolitoli said on Thursday.
However, it provided no further details about the overseas country to which the officer had travelled.
The statement only identified the suspect as “Prison A”.
It also identified another suspect still in Tonga as “Recruit Officer B”.
It said both “Prison A” and “Recruit Officer B” were suspended on September 6.
The suspension of the two officers follows the suspension of another Recruit Prison Officer in August after an illicit drug and utensil had been found in a vehicle at the Hu’atolitoli Prison compound.
It is understood the Recruit Prison Officer has been charged and is currently facing court hearings.
“We understand that Prison Officer A is currently overseas, and we intend to report our findings to the relevant Immigration Office in our effort to provide for the public safety Of Tonga’s Country partners”, the statement read.
“We also handed over our internal investigation last month regarding Recruit Prison Officer B to Tonga Police for further criminal investigation.
“We are still investigating other prison officers who are suspected of illicit drug offences”.
