The successful conviction and sentencing of Joshua Aziz Rahman will act as a major deterrent – Qiliho

Police Commissioner Brigadier-General Sitiveni Qiliho says the successful conviction and sentencing of Canadian national Joshua Aziz Rahman will act as a major deterrent and has commended the efforts of all law enforcement stakeholders.

A joint Transnational Serious Organised Crime Taskforce investigation led to a 20-year sentence for Rahman who was found in possession of 39.5 kilograms of cocaine in 2019.

Qiliho says collaboration and cooperation are key to the success of any transnational operation and reinforces their collective commitment in protecting the region from the devastating impacts of the illicit drug trade.

He adds their joint efforts have once again proven that they have a solid enforcement cooperation network with the ability to disrupt and destabilize international criminal networks.

The case had links to Operation Nova, a significant New Zealand Police, National Organised Crime Group investigation targeting the supply of methamphetamine and cocaine in New Zealand.

Operation Nova established connections between members of an organised crime group operating in New Zealand with Fiji, allowing information to be passed to Fiji Police Force who initiated their investigation.

Detective Inspector Paul Newman of the National Organised Crime says this result reflects the hard work of Fiji Police investigators.

He also says this investigation highlights the importance of countries working together to disrupt the supply of illicit drugs.

Australian Federal Police Commander Melinda Phelan says they worked closely with international law enforcement partners to prevent the harm caused by illicit drugs reaching the streets in Australia and neighbouring countries.