DRUGS have emerged as the most common type of court exhibit reported missing or allegedly interfered with in Fiji, with cocaine and methamphetamine at the centre of several cases spanning more than two decades.
The pattern has resurfaced with the disappearance of seven cocaine bars from the High Court exhibit room in Suva, where an original 39 bars were being held as exhibits.
• In 2017, cases involving missing drug evidence included 1kg of cocaine that disappeared from police custody.
• Another criminal case was withdrawn after evidence went missing from a police exhibit room.
• In 2020, marijuana leaves and seeds disappeared from a secured exhibit room at the Nadi Magistrates Court.
• The same year, about 2kg of cocaine disappeared from Namaka Police Station while being held as an exhibit in a High Court in Lautoka case.
The prosecution was discontinued and two police officers were suspended pending investigation.
• In 2024, a man was acquitted in Nadi after 4.5g of methamphetamine and analysis reports could not be produced in court.
• The same year, three police officers and two civilians were charged over alleged interference with a methamphetamine exhibit at Totogo Police Station.
Auditor-General reports over the years have also recorded missing exhibits from the Lautoka Magistrates Court exhibit room following break-ins in 2003 and 2007, including jewellery, watches, cash and electronic equipment.
