An allied effort to combat potential drug trafficking in the South Pacific brought together 10 Tongan and American agencies in Nuku'alofa to exchange the latest information on drug identification as part of the Nevada National Guard / Kingdom of Tonga State Partnership Program between May 9-13.

The program included two maritime sessions highlighting ship embarkment and evidence discovery, and also touched on human trafficking, piracy and the protection of natural resources.

Tonga Armed Forces Lt. Siosiua Ika said the reason for the drug identification exchange developed from a recent incident where Tongan officials discovered a ship that had run aground and they couldn’t easily identify the substances onboard.

“That was a lesson learned. For [Tonga agencies], drug identification training should continue.”

“We can’t rely on just a few people from each organization to have the training to identify potential drugs; hopefully it can become continuous and all can receive the training,” he said.

Tonga Police Deputy Commissioner, Pelenatita Fe’ao Visuai said that the multi-agency approach to drug identification is the only way to go. “No one agency can do it all on its own – it must be a cooperative effort.”

“It’s all about building effective working relationships and partnerships as well as sharing and teaching others about new information and experiences.”

Participants in the program learned about the different types and effects of common illicit drugs from Nevada personnel.

“It was the first time for me to view pictures of the different types of marijuana and understand the different varieties,” said Armed Forces Staff Sgt. Ofa Baasi.

Participants also learned the latest in maritime law and the training coincided with a port visit of the USS Spruance which added to the program with its Law Enforcement personnel performing a vessel-boarding demonstration. The USS Spruance were at the time preparing to assist the Tongan Navy on a 10-day patrol of international fishing waters.

Tongan officials were grateful for the exchange program, noting they made new contacts domestically as well as internationally.

James Lutui of the Tonga Attorney General’s office said that Tongan agencies often worked in isolation. “It was important to join together and learn about policies and issues cooperatively.”

Tonga’s partnership with the Nevada National Guard was officially established in April 2014.

The Tongan agencies that participated included His Majesty’s Armed Forces, Customs, Police and Ministry of Infrastructure officials as well as a representative from the Attorney General’s office. The American participants included the Joint Interagency Task Force West, U.S. Coast Guard, Defense Attache Office and the Nevada Air and Army Guard.

The Nevada Guard and His Majesty’s Armed Forces will meet in August in Tonga to focus on search and rescue information. - DVIDS.