Canadian national Joshua Aziz Rahman has been further remanded by the High Court in Suva after his bail application was rejected by the court today.
Mr Rahman is accused of possessing cocaine worth more than $30million.
The matter was called today before judge Justice Daniel Goundar for a bail ruling after the defence made a renewed application for bail pending trial.
In his ruling, Justice Goundar said the accused took six months to settle on his current counsel of choice for his trial for which the accused was responsible.
He also said the first trial date on April 27, 2020, was vacated because of COVID-19 restrictions on movements and access to remandees.
He also said as far as the accused was concerned, he was not satisfied that the COVID-19 rules and restrictions administered in the remand centre was an impediment for Mr Rahman to prepare for his trial.
The 24-year-old is alleged to have had in his possession 39.5 kilograms of cocaine in February 2019 in Caubati.
The case has been fixed for trial from March 22 for two weeks.
The matter has been adjourned to March 1.
