Portugal Colonial - Thieves swipe drugs under nose of Fiji police, swap with flour

Better known for stunning beaches that draw tourists in droves, the South Pacific nation has become an unlikely stopover for cartels shipping drugs from Latin America into Australia.

Fiji Police seized 39 bricks of cocaine in a 2019 raid, each weighing around one kilogram (2.2 pounds) and wrapped in plastic.

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu said investigators noticed seven bricks had gone missing earlier this year.

This prompted forensic testing of the remaining haul held inside an evidence vault at the High Court in capital Suva.

Tests showed the cocaine once held inside the vault had been swiped under the nose of police and swapped with bundles of flour.

"Based on the discovery of the missing seven bars and the tampering of evidence, it was decided to test the remaining parcels -- which tested negative for any trace of illicit drugs," Tudravu told reporters on Wednesday.

Previous tests carried out after the bricks were confiscated in 2019 confirmed they held cocaine at the time, he said.

"Fiji police is taking seriously the concerns raised by the government. And I give my assurance we are tackling this investigation with utmost urgency," Tudravu added.

Pacific islands such as Fiji and Tonga sit at the crossroads of ocean-trafficking routes used to shift cocaine from Latin America.

The so-called "Pacific drug highway" has in recent years been flooded with synthetic methamphetamine.

This illicit cargo is increasingly spilling over into local hands, feeding drug addiction in communities where serious crime had been rare.

Intravenous methamphetamine use has fuelled surging rates of HIV in Fiji, which was recently declared a national emergency.

A.P.Maia--PC