Fiji hunts Australian man labelled ‘kingpin’ over record meth bust

Fiji Police say they are determined to bring an Australian man to trial over what is believed to be the largest drug importation in the country’s history.

Sydney man Sam Amine, 49, is accused of playing a key role in the shipment of more than four tonnes of methamphetamine into Fiji about three years ago.

The case has raised alarm about the Pacific being used as a transit route for global drug syndicates.

“We have already rounded up the local crime syndicates,” Fiji Police Assistant Commissioner Mesake Waqa told ABC Australia’s Foreign Correspondent.

“We will only rest once we charge those responsible, those international crime syndicates. It is my wish for Sam Amine to face trial here in Fiji.”

The drugs, seized in January 2024, were supplied by Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and were destined for markets in Australia and New Zealand, according to authorities.

Investigators allege the shipment was brought into Fiji by sea before being stored at a warehouse in Denarau, Nadi, a major tourist hub, for several days.

A Fiji High Court judge last year described Amine as a “drug kingpin” during sentencing for others involved in the case although he has not been charged in Fiji.

Justin Ho, jailed for life, was one of nine locals who received severe sentences from the High Court in Lautoka in August 2025. Photo/The Fiji Times

Nine people received some of the harshest penalties ever handed down in the country for drug offences, from 15 years to 55 years and life imprisonment for ringleader Justin Ho.

Amine has not been charged in Fiji and left the country before the drugs were seized.

Australian authorities have also identified him as a major figure in regional drug trafficking.

Senior law enforcement sources told the ABC he is considered “a major regional target” and “a door” for large-scale drug importations from the Pacific into Australia.

Police in both Fiji and Australia are now moving to seize millions of dollars in assets believed to be linked to criminal activity, including properties and businesses in Fiji.

Authorities allege these assets were used to support drug operations and fund local criminal networks.

More than four tonnes of methamphetamine were seized in Fiji in January 2024, in what authorities say is the largest drug bust in the country’s history. Photo/Fiji Police

The case has also drawn attention to alleged links between organised crime groups in Australia and the Pacific.

NSW Police told a court Amine was connected to the Alameddine network, described as a major organised crime group, and the KVT gang, which authorities say is linked to serious drug activity.

“They're importing drugs, they're selling drugs, distributing drugs … it's pretty serious,” NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Scott Cook said.

Fiji Police say those connections are one reason Amine has remained on their radar for years.

The investigation also highlights how criminal networks are using Pacific nations as staging points for drug shipments, taking advantage of remote locations and limited enforcement resources.

Amine is currently in Australia after being arrested in Sydney in 2024 as part of an undercover police operation involving drugs and a firearm.

He has pleaded guilty to those charges and is due to be sentenced in July.

In a statement, his lawyer said: “My client's silence should not in any way be seen of [sic] deemed as an admission to any criminal liability or associations.”

Fiji authorities say their focus remains on holding those responsible to account and disrupting the wider networks behind the trade.

The case is part of a broader investigation by ABC’s Foreign Correspondent, which examines how international drug syndicates are increasingly targeting the Pacific.

For Fiji and its neighbours, officials say the stakes are high as the region faces growing pressure from transnational crime moving through its waters and communities.

The first instalment of Foreign Correspondent’s special investigation into drug trafficking in the Pacific, Cartel Paradise, aired on Tuesday on ABC TV and ABC iview.