When precisely did the Chief Justice, Salesi Temo, find out that every single packet of cocaine in the care of his court had been stolen and replaced with flour?
Eleven days ago, Temo made a big public fuss about the disappearance of seven packets of cocaine from the High Court’s exhibit room, saying he wanted whoever stole it “to be in jail”.
Yet it now transpires that the scandal is bigger. Much bigger. The entire haul of drugs – 39 packets with an estimated street value of $31-million – is gone. And a shocked nation is demanding answers.
Temo blamed the ODPP for the original heist, saying Nancy Tikoisuva and her team should have arranged for the drugs to be destroyed. But the buck stops with the Chief Justice because all this has happened in his court. And we now know he told us only part of the story – seven packets gone, not 39.
Amid rumours that the suspected culprit is a close relative of a senior officer of state, Justice Temo must come clean about what he knew and when. Was he aware when he made his previous public statement that the true story was much more serious? And if not, why not? Because this goes to the heart of the credibility of the judicial system over which Salesi Temo presides.
We know that the theft of drugs while in the custody of the police or the courts has become almost routine in Fiji. The former DPP, Christopher Pryde, alerted everyone to the problem during his own tenure when he had to abandon drug trials because the evidence had vanished in the care of the police. But the judiciary?
Why wasn’t security stepped up long ago? Incredibly, the Acting Attorney General himself, Siromi Turaga, says none of this is new. Then why hasn’t it been dealt with effectively? The suspicion must be that some people haven’t wanted the honey pot shut.
How high up does this conspiracy go? Because it beggars belief that more than $30-million dollars of cocaine can be substituted for flour in the High Court without the knowledge or participation of some very senior people.
This is a major embarrassment for the Chief Justice and the Prime Minister as head of government and extremely damaging for the reputation of the nation. Because we are clearly one step closer to being a narco-state in Fiji when such a brazen crime can be committed in the citadel of justice – the High Court.
The joint police-RFMF task force charged with tracking down the Mr Bigs of the drug trade needs to get cracking and go through the High Court, the ODPP and wherever the trail takes them with a fine tooth comb to get to the bottom of this outrage. And that includes interviewing the Chief Justice and his sidekick ultimately responsible for the smooth running of the courts, the Chief Registrar, Tomasi Bainivalu.
Both have known for years that drugs have been disappearing from under their noses to the extent that criminals have gone free because the evidence against them has vanished. But this is genuinely next level – insiders with access to a supposedly secure facility (and it has to be more than one) stealing cocaine by substituting it with cooking flour and returning it to the dealers or on-selling it for vast personal benefit.
How much confidence can we have that those in the front line of the fight against drugs are capable of getting to the bottom of what has happened? Not much when it is now more than five months since the accused drug lord, Jone Vakarisi, was murdered in RFMF custody and still no-one has been charged.
There is something very rotten at the heart of the state when all this can happen in Fiji without a proper accounting for the conduct of those who are meant to be on the front line of the fight against drugs. And from the Chief Justice down, we need genuine transparency instead of the current secrecy or faux bluster (“I want them in jail”) coupled with a genuine resolve to finally clean up the state’s act.
Right now, confidence in the system amounts to a big fat zero. And without that resolve, Fiji is steadily on the path to becoming a narco-state – which is defined as “a country where illegal drug money and cartels have taken over or deeply corrupted the main parts of the government, military and law enforcement”.
Sound familiar?
It’s “nothing new”, says the Acting Attorney General. Great. That in itself is a sign of a complete lack of resolve on the part of the authorities to deal with this problem.
And why would that be? As always, follow the money.
Our story eleven days ago.
Too many questions and not enough answers.
So its been established that the CR was alerted about the initial missing cocaine packets in January this year.
But did he not alert police?
Did he tell the CJ about it then?
Did he escalate such a serious breech to the AG?
Did this information reach the PM then?
If no to all these questions then why not?
What sort of investigation and action was taken by the CR since then?
How many staff who had access to the room were interviewed, by who and what action was taken?
Is it true that a staff member who is the sister of the head of FICAC was questioned and then asked to return the missing drugs?
Is it true that despite being identified as the person who most likely had taken the stored drugs this staff member was only transferred to the west office as punishment?
Is it true that when this staff member was contacted for further questioning later it was found that she had already fled the country to australia?
Did the CR then escalate this further to relevant authorities like the CJ and AG and the PM plus the police?
If not then why not?
Did the CR know about all the drugs missing and replaced with flour then? If he claims he didn’t then when did he discover that all the drugs were missing?
Is it true that the former staff member of interest cannot be found in australia?
Do the authorities have any idea if such a large quantity of cocain is destined for the local market or do they suspect that it will be sent to overseas markets and by who and how?
Why did the dpp not apply to destroy the drugs despite being asked several times by the high court if she had done so?
Why did the dpps office sit on this application to destroy the drugs from the time straight after Joshua rahman was found guilty?
Why did the dpp mislead the high court about this issue?
Did CJ know about all the drugs missing earlier then last week?
If he did then why didn’t he make this public?
Will the PM finally grow a pair and take decisive action against such incompetence in tbe judiciary?
Will the police and military drug task force be allowed to act independently to do a thorough investigation of this incident?
Will Rabuka finally declare that there is rampant corruption in the judiciary and the police and will peoplel be asked to resign?
Will the fijian media ask all these and other relevant questions?
To the first line, I would say all good questions but NO answers!!
And to the last question, of course not.
This is Fiji, everything is done differently here. Maintenance is lacking, security is lacking, accountability is lacking, charging a murderer or two is lacking after months of ‘so called’ investigations.
Nobody in power or the police force gives a sh*t. They’re all there to pick up their pay and play on their phones.
Remain calm and carry on. That’s the mantra this disastrous corrupt inept imbecile regime lives by.
Ignore the problem and it’ll go away. The media is in the regime’s pocket.
The internet generation with short attention spans will continue on their merry way.
Nothing tangible will happen and no one will be held to account. Native vuvale network at its best. Kaivata, kilavata, koro vata, kana vata working to the T.
We have the misfortune of a pretend “acting” AG simply out of his depth. Giving people fancy titles or high positions does not change a person’s underlying nature or give them wisdom. Nor do empty suits and fancy ties and bling make one knowledgeable.
We all know “when clowns move into a palace, they do not become a king; the palace becomes a circus”
Donor countries too will instead of calling for better, simply up the “budget” support.
Our military police and the vaunted drug enforcement team are clueless and impotent. This entire regime is a disgrace focusing on a silly piece of paper called the “constitution.”
When was the last time Fijians (natives) ever accepted any “constitution?”
What good is any “constitution “ when current laws are not enforced?
The coconuts of gcc are too busy vying for power and authority and indigenous supremacy.
The police commissioner dines with drug lords in Flagstaff, pretends all is well. In full regalia including bells and whistles, belts and buckles to the hilt with shiny tin medals to advertise his own compromised impotence.
All under the watch of Sona Rolex obliviously playing the fiddle as the country burns.
The emperor has no clothes.
What a cock up.
The only real surprise is that they didnt leave roti parcels in place of the cocaine parcels.
WHAT YOU TALKING ! only the flour there, CJ and CR never look after, fullup with the weavel, no good for roti, no roti for the Deewali. Waste time gang.
@ Ian😂😂
Not the first time.
Wasn’t there an episode some years ago where the entire contents of the evidence room at CID got up and walked away? And the video cameras had nothing and nobody saw anything with their eyeballs.
Then there was the time when they were getting the new currency and an entire container of cash disappeared from the port
I do not recall ever reading that anyone got caught in regards to either of these things
Anyone?
Water into wine.
Now Fiji has it’s own major miracle – cocaine into flour. Under the” noses” ( snort snort) of the Chiefs and Lords in power.
A Christian State miracle.
Sounds like you have some VERY SERIOUS issues in the ranks of your justice system. Of all places , the highest court in the land and its exhibit room. Third world countries have more stringent security processes than you lot!
When will you change your ways? How can the nation have any confidence in the ability of a system that tampers with the proceeds of criminal enterprises??????
You are heading down a slippery slope people.. Certain individuals are testing the structural integrity of your justice system. It’s clearly defunct. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to put two and two together here. They have already tested the structural integrity of your military….murders…weapons smuggling…failure….Now it’s your justice system …drugs…thieves…corruption on the inside….failure.
Virtues have ceased to exist in any way shape or form across two major sectors of your country. What’s next? Do you see a pattern beginning to take shape here? Perhaps your governance is next? Hell ..looks like all else is failing or has failed.
You need a zero tolerance approach to drug distribution in any case. There should be a mandatory non parole period of life in prison for drug distribution. Re introduce the cane. People that break the law should be subjected to lashings. This will deter on some level. If you buy or sell drugs on a minor level then you get 20 lashes.
Its high time you put your money where your mouth is and clean up that dump of a country.
You have to realize that these people are poisoning your society. It is an evil thing that is being perpetrated upon the ppl of Fj. You never had these issues 30 years ago. So find the source and end it. Be vigilant with who and how you administer and enforce this. Don’t walk blindly into alliances with neighbors in the Pacific. More often than not they are probably looking to shift the burden to you so that they can improve their own situation. Just saying…