No one has been arrested as the Criminal Investigations Department investigates the alleged tampering and disappearance of cocaine exhibits kept in the custody of the Suva High Court.
fijivillage News was alerted early this week that cocaine exhibits linked to the case of Fiji-Canadian national Joshua Aziz Rahman were allegedly missing from the Suva Court House.
We had then asked Police and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions about the allegations.
The Office of the DPP said it was not aware of the allegations and referred fijivillage News to Police, stating that Police are responsible for exhibits, including the storage and security of drugs.
Police initially told us on Monday night that the drugs were not missing.
However, Assistant Commissioner of Police Crime Loraini Seru now says a physical check of the exhibits was conducted on Tuesday in the presence of senior judiciary officials, a senior official from the Office of the DPP, Police and an officer from the Crime Scene Investigations Unit who captured the inspection process.
Seru says the inspection found that the exhibits linked to a high-profile drug case had allegedly been tampered with.
It was also discovered that seven bars were missing from the initial 39 bars exhibited to the Suva High Court Exhibit Room.
She says investigations are now being conducted by a CID team.
The Supreme Court had earlier restored Rahman’s conviction and sentence imposed by the High Court over 39.5 kilograms of cocaine worth $31 million found at a Caubati home in 2019.
The High Court sentenced Rahman to 23 years imprisonment in October 2021, with a non-parole period of 14 years, following his conviction.
Stay with us for developments.
