Fijian police launch nationwide audit after cocaine exhibits go missing in court vault

Fiji Police have launched a nationwide audit of drugs and cash held in their custody as investigators continue probing missing cocaine exhibits from the Suva High Court.

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says a special team has been checking police stations across Fiji for almost three weeks while drug exhibits are being moved to stations with secure vaults.

“I can comment on the Fiji Police," he told journalists. "There’s a special team that is already out there.

"It’s almost three weeks now to follow up with the investigation and the checks that have been made in all divisions, based on two things: drugs, cash that are within our custody.

“There is an audit team that is going around all police stations.”

Tudravu says he is concerned about the security of exhibits and has ordered drugs to be centralised at stations with vaults in Nadi, Lautoka, Totogo in Suva and Police Mobile in Nasinu.

Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says a special team has been checking police stations across the country as part of the audit. Photo/Fiji Police

“What I’ve directed is that we centralise all the drug exhibits to the police stations that have their vaults like Nadi, Lautoka, Totogo, and Police Mobile. So these are the only places where the drugs are placed.”

The move follows the discovery that cocaine exhibits linked to two separate cases were missing or had been tampered with.

Police say about 12 kilograms of cocaine linked to former Australian horse trainer John Nikolic are missing while cocaine exhibits from the Fiji-Canadian national Joshua Aziz Rahman's case were also found to be missing or tampered with.

Australian John Nikolic, right, was sentenced to 23 years in prison in Fiji in 2019 after being convicted of importing illicit drugs and possessing arms and ammunition without a licence. Photo/The Fiji Times/Reinal Chand/file

Nikolic was sentenced to 23 years in prison in Fiji in 2019 after being convicted of drug-related offences. Rahman was convicted in 2021 for the unlawful possession of 39.5kg of cocaine, valued at over FJ$30 million (NZ$23.79 million), found at a home in Nasinu in 2019.

Investigators have identified six people of interest and taken statements from 37 people as they work to establish who had direct access to the exhibits.

The Police Digital Forensic Unit is also trying to recover available CCTV footage and biometric records from the High Court vault.

Acting Director Criminal Investigation Department ASSP Peni Tuivaga says most of the CCTV cameras and the biometric security system at the vault were not operating.

“There was CCTV installed at the vault at the High Court but most of it were not in operation. So was the biometrics.”

Police are now trying to establish when the security systems stopped working and how the biometric system was unplugged.

The Suva High Court exhibit room is at the centre of an investigation into missing and tampered cocaine exhibits. Photo/judiciary.gov.fj

Tudravu says the investigation will also examine the sequence of visits to the exhibit room.

“So that is why we would like to, part of our investigation is to ascertain the sequence of visits that was done there. And when was this CCTV not in operation? How does the biometric machine was unplugged? So all these things will come in.”

Police say the cocaine was deposited at the High Court vault on 25 March 2021. Records show it had tested positive for cocaine in confirmatory tests in February 2019 and again in July 2019.

Seven bars were later found missing while tests on the remaining parcels returned negative results for traces of illicit drugs.

Tudravu says police did not guard the exhibits after they were deposited at the High Court, which had its own security arrangements.

In a separate case, the New Zealand Defence Force assisted Fiji authorities in recovering over 12kg of cocaine found on a remote island in July 2018. Photo/NZDF/file

“Well, I can confirm that once it was deposited at Suva High Court, the exhibit room, we are not there to guard them," the police chief said.

"They have their own special security arrangements, with CCTV, the biometrics that was there, how they entered that exhibit room.”

Fiji Police have also deployed officers to secure Government Buildings in Suva while the investigation continues.

Tudravu says future security measures will involve the Police, Judiciary and other agencies.

“And it’s not only the Police that will do that. We have all stakeholders, which need to agree and decide and have a way forward on the things that need to be done. We have other stakeholders.”

Meanwhile, Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry is calling for an independent inquiry into the disappearance of cocaine from High Court custody.

Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry is calling for an independent inquiry into the disappearance of cocaine from High Court custody. Photo/Supplied

“The cocaine bars were under lock and key. It should not be difficult to identify those who were responsible for ensuring its safety,” he said.

Chaudhry said an independent inquiry was needed to establish how the cocaine could have been removed from judicial custody and replaced with flour.

He also questioned the security arrangements at the High Court exhibit room, describing it as “absolutely unacceptable” that no charges had been laid.

Police say the investigation into the latest matter began on 16 September while a separate case involving missing cocaine has been under investigation since March.