Nearly 40 kilograms of cocaine held by Fiji court replaced with flour

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Nearly 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of cocaine stored as evidence for a major drug trial in Fiji were stolen from a courthouse, with most swapped out for flour, local media reported, in a case that highlights the South Pacific tourism hotspot’s struggle against an influx of narcotics.

The cocaine, worth 30 million Fijian dollars ($13.3 million), had been seized in a 2019 case involving Fiji-Canadian national Joshua Rahman. He was convicted of unlawful possession, according to official records .

The confiscated drugs remained stored at the Suva High Court while appeals were heard – but during an inspection on September 15, officials discovered that seven out of 39 cocaine bars were missing, police said.

That kicked off an investigation that ultimately found that all of the remaining cocaine were dupes, and that none of the original seized cocaine remained.

“Forensic tests conducted on the remaining drug exhibits have all returned negative,” police said in a statement on Tuesday. “The exhibits were all tampered with and the investigation is focused on those directly charged with the management of the exhibits at the High Court Registry.”

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said Wednesday that the cocaine was placed in the High Court vault in March 2021, but it’s not clear when the theft happened. The exhibits were confirmed to have been cocaine in a previous test in 2019.

Police identified six persons of interest who work in the judiciary department and would have had access to the vault, and one of those people was currently out of the country, Tudravu said during a news conference. Officers were now double checking all other exhibits in the court, including seized cash.

The cocaine theft has raised serious questions about security in the country’s judicial system and prompted outrage from the public and lawmakers.

“The replacement of the cocaine with flour, whatever it is, that is a sad indictment of … whoever is responsible,” said opposition politician Jone Usamate, speaking in Parliament. “How do you know now that what is in all those exhibits is really what is claimed to be in the exhibits?”

Justice Minister Siromi Turaga expressed his “disappointment” and shock, adding that authorities were now working to upgrade security and review existing protocols at the High Court.

An archipelago famed for its friendly culture, white-sand beaches and teeming coral reefs, Fiji has struggled for years to contain a drug boom.

It has emerged as a crucial transit point for narcotics being trafficked from the Americas to lucrative markets in Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia. Massive stockpiles of methamphetamine smuggled onto the islands by cartels have spurred a widespread addiction crisis, seen as a key driver of an HIV epidemic that Fiji recently declared a national emergency.

The disappearance of the cocaine “has come at a time when we are talking about transnational crime,” said Turaga, adding that “it goes to show the magnitude of the problem we are facing.”

“No one is immune from this. No stone will be unturned. Anyone found guilty will be made accountable,” he said.

This isn’t the first such incident, or even the only one this year; earlier in March, police discovered that another 12 kilograms of confiscated cocaine related to a separate criminal case had also gone missing.

Local journalists at Wednesday’s news conference pressed the police commissioner on why security hadn’t been stepped up after the March discovery, and whether that could have prevented the second instance of stolen drugs.

“All of us are concerned. The government is concerned. I’m concerned about this,” said Tudravu. “That is why we are trying our best to conduct the investigation as fast as we can.”

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据当地媒体报道，斐济一家法院被盗，近 40 公斤（88 磅）可卡因作为一起重大毒品审判的证据，其中大部分被换成了面粉。此案凸显了这个南太平洋旅游热点地区在打击毒品涌入方面面临的困境。

这批价值3000万斐济元（约合1330万美元）的可卡因，是在2019年一起涉及斐济裔加拿大公民约书亚·拉赫曼的案件中缴获的。根据官方记录，他被判非法持有毒品罪。

警方称，在上诉审理期间，没收的毒品一直存放在苏瓦高等法院——但在 9 月 15 日的一次检查中，官员们发现 39 块可卡因中少了 7 块。

这引发了一项调查，最终发现剩余的可卡因都是赝品，而最初缴获的可卡因则一无所获。

警方周二在一份声明中表示：“对剩余毒品证物进行的法医检测结果均为阴性。所有证物均遭到篡改，调查重点是高等法院登记处负责管理证物的直接人员。”

警察局长鲁西亚特·图德拉武周三表示，这批可卡因于2021年3月被存放在高等法院金库中，但盗窃发生的具体时间尚不清楚。此前在2019年的一次检测中，已确认这些物证为可卡因。

警方已锁定六名司法部门工作人员，他们可能接触过金库，其中一人目前身在国外。图德拉武在新闻发布会上表示，警方正在对法庭上的所有其他证物，包括查获的现金，进行复核。

这起可卡因盗窃案引发了人们对该国司法系统安全性的严重质疑，并激起了公众和立法者的愤怒。

反对派政治家乔恩·乌萨马特在议会发言时说：“用面粉代替可卡因，不管那是什么，这都是对……幕后黑手的莫大讽刺。现在你们怎么知道所有这些证物里的东西，真的就是他们声称的那些东西呢？”

司法部长西罗米·图拉加表示“失望”和震惊，并补充说，当局目前正在努力提升高等法院的安全级别并审查现有的规程。

斐济群岛以其友好的文化、白色沙滩和丰富的珊瑚礁而闻名，但多年来一直难以遏制毒品泛滥。

斐济已成为毒品从美洲走私到澳大利亚、新西兰和亚洲部分地区利润丰厚市场的重要中转站。贩毒集团向岛上走私的大量冰毒引发了广泛的毒瘾危机，这被认为是斐济近期宣布进入国家紧急状态的艾滋病疫情的主要驱动因素。

图拉加说，可卡因的消失“正值我们谈论跨国犯罪之际”，并补充说，“这表明我们面临的问题的严重性”。

“没有人能置身事外。我们会彻查到底。任何被发现有罪的人都将被追究责任，”他说。

这并非此类事件首次发生，甚至也不是今年唯一一起；今年 3 月初，警方发现与另一起刑事案件有关的 12 公斤缴获的可卡因也失踪了。

在周三的新闻发布会上，当地记者向警察局长追问，为什么在 3 月份发现毒品被盗事件后没有加强安保，以及加强安保是否可以防止第二次毒品被盗事件的发生。

“我们所有人都很关注此事。政府很关注。我也很关注，”图德拉武说。“正因如此，我们才尽全力尽快展开调查。”