The lawyer for Fijians and the foreign nationals accused of being in possession of methamphetamine in a Rewa Street apartment has accused Acting Sergeant Ritesh Dewan of lying.
Defence counsel Maria Raga says the Acting Sergeant had stated earlier that he had received the exhibits on 25th September last year when he entered them into the Exhibits Register at Totogo Police Station.
However during cross examination Raga produced his signed statement that he had received the exhibits on 24th September.
When asked on this, Dewan agreed that he had received the exhibits on 24th September and entered them into the Exhibit Register on 25th September.
The defence counsel then raised the point that when he was questioned on the dates before this, the Acting Sergeant was certain that he had received it on 25th September, even repeating it several times as that was the date that was entered on the Exhibit Register.
He was then again reminded that as an exhibit writer he is to enter exhibits into the Exhibit Register and also track the movement of the exhibits.
Meanwhile, Assistant Superintendent of Police Savenaca Tuivaga told Court that police officers searched a property at Lot 170 Rewa Street without obtaining a search warrant because of the urgency of the situation.
While giving evidence during the hearing, ASP Tuivaga says his unit had received information that Josua Ravula was with a Chinese national at the Yue Lai Hotel in Flagstaff, where methamphetamine was later found and seized.
He says officers from the Serious Organised Crime Unit carried out a raid at the hotel on the 23rd of September, 2025.
ASP Tuivaga says he later went to the hotel after a foreign passport was found in the room where Ravula was arrested and informed the Immigration team to verify the document.
He says a Chinese female national was also arrested and, when officers asked for her passport, she told them it was at another property in Rewa Street.
ASP Tuivaga says a copy of the passport was needed to verify her identity, and he directed officers to proceed to Lot 170 Rewa Street to search the passport and check if drugs were at that property.
He told the court he was later informed that officers saw people destroying plastic bags containing a white substance when they entered the property.
ASP Tuivaga accepted that he had advised officers to follow Section 22 of the Illicit Drugs Control Act to search the property without obtaining a search warrant.
He says he was later informed that drugs had been found in the washroom of one of the flats at Lot 170.
According to ASP Tuivaga, Peniasi Delai and Ginna Choi were at the property and claimed they were there to visit the Chinese nationals.
He also told the court that Choi had changed her appearance, saying her passport showed her with long black hair, while she had short blonde hair when officers encountered her.
ASP Tuivaga says he recognised Choi's name because police had previously received information about her.
He also said a white vehicle that had earlier been seen at the Yue Lai Hotel was later spotted at Lot 170, while police also carried out a raid at Lot 134.
Yu Yang Feng, Minghui Dai and Zhou Lan are each charged with one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs for allegedly being found with 39.509 grams of methamphetamine.
Lan is also charged with possession of property suspected to be proceeds of a crime for allegedly being found with FJD$7,180, USD$60, 1,520 in Hong Kong currency and 1,600 Chinese yuan.
Feng is also charged with unlawful supply of illicit drugs.
It is alleged that on the 23rd of September, 2025, without lawful authority, Feng engaged in dealings with other persons for the transport and supply of methamphetamine.
He is also charged with being in possession of property suspected to be proceeds of a crime.
Feng was allegedly found with $906.25 in cash.
Choi and Peniasi Delai are charged with one count of unlawful possession of illicit drugs for allegedly being found with 0.345 grams of methamphetamine.
The trial will continue tomorrow morning.
