$2B meth bust : Our main concern is to monitor their bail conditions – Acting COMPOL

Acting Police Commissioner, Juki Fong Chew confirms that their main concern now after the three accused persons in the $2 billion methamphetamine bust case were released on bail, is to monitor their bail conditions due to the allegations before them.

When asked by fijivillage News on their concerns regarding the bail granted, Chew says as per the court ruling, bail has been given due to the interest of justice, which is beyond the control of the Fiji Police Force.

Despite strong opposition to bail by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Justin Ho, Louie Logaivalu and Jale Aukerea who are charged in relation to the $2 billion methamphetamine bust in Nadi early this year have been released on cash bail bonds by the Lautoka High Court.

Ho was released with a cash bond of $15,000, while Aukerea and Logaivalu $10,000 each.

Lautoka High Court Judge, Justice Aruna Aluthge says Ho and Logaivau must not leave or travel outside of Lautoka without the court’s permission, while Jale Aukerea must not travel outside of Nadi.

They are to surrender their passport to court, a stop departure is in place for all three and they must not interfere with the witnesses.

While delivering the bail ruling, Justice Aluthge the three have been in remand for approximately 10 months now and the substantive case is yet to be fixed for trial.

The judge says the delay is largely due to the non-disclosure of complete documents that included 700 odd photographs to the defence.

Justice Aluthge says the defence has also opposed the application made by the State to destroy the confiscated drugs until alternative testing is conducted.

The judge says the alternate drug analysis process would further add to the delay, and the defence are to challenge the admissibility of caution statements.

He says the photos disclosed are kept in a USB but the request for hard copies have been denied by the State considering the cost factor.

The three accused are arguing that the difficulty in accessing evidence against them has obstructed their right to get proper instructions from their legal counsel.

The judge adds three months have lapsed since the previous bail determination and despite extra energy being put by the Office of the DPP into expediting the trial process, the court is still unable to fix a trial date due to some pre-trial issues, the main of which is the alternate drug analysis.

The court has however indicated that this matter will be given priority and fixed for trial within the first quarter of 2025.