Nearly 40 kilograms of drugs held as evidence in a major drug case have been stolen from a court in Fiji, with most of the missing drugs reportedly replaced with flour, CNN reports.
The drugs, valued at around 30 million Fijian dollars, were seized in 2019 in connection with a case involving Fiji-Canadian national Joshua Rahman. According to official records, he was convicted of illegally possessing drugs.
The confiscated drugs had been stored at the Suva High Court pending an appeal. During an inspection on September 15, officials discovered that seven of the 39 packages of drugs were missing.
A subsequent investigation reportedly found that the remaining drugs were also counterfeit and that none of the original seized drugs remained in the storage facility.
Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said the drug consignment had been placed in the High Court’s secure vault in March 2021, but the exact time when the theft occurred remains unclear.
Police have identified six suspected individuals, including people working in the judiciary who had access to the secure vault. Tudravu said one of them had already left the country, according to CNN.
The theft has raised serious questions about security within Fiji’s judicial system and has drawn criticism from members of the public and Parliament.
