TWO officers from the Counter-Narcotics Bureau were charged last week in connection with the unlawful importation of more than four kilograms of methamphetamine that were seized at the Nadi International Airport.
Both officers have been charged with one count each of unlawful importation of illicit drugs, along with two other locals and a Nigerian national.
This arrest seems to indicate a crisis of trust and integrity within the very unit that was set up to dismantle the growing drug network in Fiji.
The Bureau
In June 2024, Cabinet endorsed the National Counter Narcotics Strategy 2023 to 2028, whose key focus areas were reducing the demand for narcotics, reducing supply, reducing harm and legislative reform, amongst other responsibilities.
Through the endorsement, Cabinet also approved the establishment of the Fiji Counter Narcotics Bureau which were to operate as an independent institution under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration.
In a statement released by Cabinet, the listed functions of the bureau included investigation, law enforcement, intelligence gathering, prosecution and to conduct awareness.
In the same paper, Cabinet approved the development of a Fiji Counter Narcotics Bureau Bill which were to give the bureau power to perform its designated functions and responsibilities.
However, the Bill will be considered by Cabinet after necessary procedures were followed, and after which it will be tabled in Parliament.
The announcement by Cabinet was lauded by many and seen as an effort by government to address the drug crisis that Fiji was facing and in the 2024/2025 National Budget, the bureau received an allocation of more than $2million to set up the unit.
The Forty-Five Men ‘A Team’
When the announcement was made by Cabinet, the question behind most peoples mind included who all will form the bureau and how will the members be vetted and selected.
After the announcement, nobody knew who all made up the bureau, or how it was structured. There was no release of names, or an announcement on where the members of the bureau were being sourced from.
Despite the lack of official publication, the realisation was always there that members would obviously be selected from the Fiji Police Force. Along with this came the expectation that these officers would be ‘the best of the best’ as rumours of police corruption were already the talk of the town.
Early this year, sources of The Fiji Times provided us with a list of names of people who could allegedly be ‘the Bureau’.
The top of the page, in bold fonts read “Fiji Police Force Counter Narcotic Bureau Seconded Personnel to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration”. Forty-five names were listed in the three-columned excel page with confirmation that they were all from the Fiji Police Force.
There was only one Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) on the list who is alleged to be the team leader, two inspectors, two sergeants, four corporals, one acting corporal, and 33 police constables.
No other information was provided on the page.
However, after checking with other reliable sources, it’s been confirmed to The Fiji Times that the list mostly contained names of members of the force’s Narcotics Bureau which was headed by Senior Superintendent of Police Seru Neiko.
A statement on the Fiji Police Force page in September 2024 confirmed that the force’s Narcotics Bureau changed its name to Serious Organised Crime Unit (SOCU) “following the formation of the Counter Narcotics Bureau operating under the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration”.
Sources further provided information confirming that more than 15 members of the newly-established Counter Narcotics Bureau were from the Commissioner of Police (COMPOL) Taskforce, more commonly known as CP Taskforce, which was setup by former COMPOL Sitiveni Qiliho.
In 2024, former acting COMPOL Juki Fong had confirmed to the media that he had disbanded the CP Taskforce in 2023 after he assumed the position in January of that year.
Sources also confirm that a few were members of the Strike Back team, a unit operating before CP Taskforce, and was set up for covert operation. The Strike Back unit included members of the Fiji Correction Services, Republic of Fiji Military Forces and the Police Force.
The future of the Bureau
In an interview with this masthead, Policing Minister Ioane Naivalurua said that an urgent review of the bureau will be underway.
“Given what has happened, the need to quickly review our Counter Narcotics Bureau with its infrastructure, with the view of looking into the structure that we have, to look into having the right people that should be there, and we can draw lessons from the last incident that has just taken place,” Mr Naivalurua said.
When asked to confirm if some bureau members were members of older taskforces, he said “we don’t want to talk too much of the past”.
“We want to focus on moving forward and improving the way that we deliver our service to Fiji. We just draw lessons from the past and move on, and that’s where our focus is.
“Let’s not lament about the past and what has happened. We should direct our energy to improving the service that we can deliver to the people of Fiji.”
