EMTV recently gained rare access into the lives of smalltime drug dealers in Port Moresby.
Journalist, Bethanie Harriman and a crew spoke to group of youths who say they make hundreds of kina per week selling marijuana on the streets.
“We make between K300 to K400 per week,” pipes one amongst the group.
If arrested they face significant jail time, but they say selling drugs is how they survive.
But the illegal trade is about to get more risky with police training a new squad of sniffer dogs.
We arrived at a disclosed location at around midday to meet the youths.
They were initially reluctant to talk to us, but we promised to protect their identity.
There are three levels of supply, we went to film the bottom link in the chain of the Port Moresby drug trade.
“It’s Port Moresby, we are doing things for money to survive,” says a dealer.
They tell us about the amount of money they make- it’s astonishing.
In a week they make more than what a Papua New Guinean makes on Minimum wage, but marijuana is illegal.
The minimum sentence for drug possession is nine months. The maximum is two years.
Our crew watches as several members of the group role up a joint and smoke it on camera.
But, police are hoping this trade could come to an end soon, because the dealers will have new adversaries.
At the Bomana training college, Police dogs are being trained to sniff out illegal drugs.
The police dogs are being trained for the Apec Summit in 2018, which will end in the next four months.
