In the National Assembly |14 June 2023

‘Level of crime in the country still alarming,’ says minister

The Minister for Internal Affairs, Errol Fonseka, has said that although the police have been able to make some progress in the fight against crime, the level of the activity in the country is still a concern given the type and quality of crimes being committed.

The minister made the statement following a private notice question by the leader of the opposition, Sebastien Pillay, asking for an explanation on the crime situation in the country.

The question was followed by two other questions by Hon. Pillay related to the number of crimes and drug incidents recorded and whether the citizens of this country can still have confidence in the authority given that drugs seized are being sold in ghettos and other areas across the country.  

“The level of crime that the country is experiencing doesn’t paint a beautiful picture,” said the minister, who noted that while we used to resolve problems with our bare hands in the old days, today these same problems are being resolved with knives and the shedding of blood through other means, all across the country, including in the housing estates.

Minister Fonseka stated that the most common crimes are violence, financial crime linked to corruption, child abuse, cybercrimes, scams, transnational organised crimes and drug and human trafficking, among others that are putting pressure on police resources to face the challenge to defeat them.

He noted that given those crimes have existed for a long time, the situation today would have been different had they been dealt with accordingly in the past. 

“The police are readjusting their work to face the challenge in terms of the quality and types of crime which are evolving very fast when one sees the way they are happening and being operated,” said Minister Fonseka, who noted that government is determined to address the issue.

Providing some statistics, Minister Fonseka said that the country has experienced a 2% reduction in the level of crime as compared to last year, although there was an increase in thefts from 539 (in 2022) cases to 555 cases (in 2023) over the same period.

Minister Fonseka stated that the police’s proactive measures and actions, which included spot checks and community policing, have resulted in a decline in physical aggressions (9%) as compared to last year with a number of offensive weapons seized.

In regards to drug related activities, Minister Fonseka said that the police recorded 379 cases of possession of drugs from January to May this year compared to 137 cases over the same period in 2022. Four (4) cases of drug trafficking from January to June 2022 compares to 17 cases over the same period this year whereas 19 cases of drug cultivation have been recorded so far this year compared to one (1) case in 2022.

On drug seizures, Minister Fonseka said that 620kg of heroin, 390 crystal meth, 2399 cannabis plants, 4kg of cannabis raisins and 1.2kg of cocaine have been seized so far from January 2023 to May 2023.

“The statistics shows that the police have made tremendous progress in the fight against drugs,” Minister Fonseka said.

With regard to the question that drugs seized were being sold in the ghettos, Minister Fonseka said the matter was dealt with accordingly where the majority of the drugs were recuperated by the police and four Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) officers and two civilians involved in stealing the drugs were apprehended.

He noted that while the case in under investigation, new protocols have been put in place to ensure that drugs seized by the authority are not stolen again.

To sum up, Minister Fonseka said from 2022 to 2023, drug offences increased by 41%, theft by 31%, burglary by 11%, fraud by 228 %, murder by 13% and sexual offences by 6%.

Minister Fonseka stated that the statistics clearly reveals the progress that the police are making in combating crime in the country.

He added the police in their work treat everybody the same whatever the status, race or position held.

He noted that now, more than ever, people are coming forward to report criminal activities to the police which shows the confidence they have in them including the honesty by government in the work it is doing.

Patrick Joubert