Tonga’s Parliament has passed tough new illicit drug laws providing for severe penalties.
The new law stipulates a maximum fine of TOP$1 million pa’anga or life imprisonment, or both, for anyone who is arrested with one or more kilograms of meth.
Anyone who was captured with 28 grams of meth could receive life imprisonment.
The brief information about the laws was released on Parliament’s Facebook page last week in Tongan language.
The law allows police to shoot the tyres of the vehicle of a suspected drug dealer.
Some police vehicle have to be fitted with bulletproof armour to better protect officers on dangerous jobs, according to new laws, the Hansard said.
The law also empowers police to use an ordinary citizen as a source of information to find illicit drugs.
Under the law, a Police Officer can enter a home if he got approval from a Police Magistrate. Previously, Police can only get such approval from the Chief Justice.
A father who knows that his son is dealing with drugs can also be charged.
