A dedicated Counter-Narcotics Bureau is set to become Fiji’s principal agency in the fight against illicit drugs under new legislation introduced in Parliament.
Minister for Policing Ioane Naivalurua said the proposed Bureau was at the heart of the Counter-Narcotics Bill 2026, which Government is seeking to fast-track under Standing Order 51.
“At the heart of this Bill is the establishment of the Counter-Narcotics Bureau, a dedicated institution that will serve as Fiji’s principal agency for coordinating national efforts,” Naivalurua told Parliament.
He said the Bureau would develop specialised intelligence and investigative capabilities, strengthen partnerships across Government and internationally and coordinate Fiji’s response to the growing narcotics threat.
Naivalurua said Fiji’s existing drug laws were developed for a different era and were no longer sufficient to deal with increasingly sophisticated criminal activity.
“Our laws must be strengthened and be capable of meeting the threat that exists today and tomorrow, not the threat that existed 20 years ago,” he said.
He said the modern drug landscape included organised criminal networks, transnational trafficking operations, precursor chemicals, financial crimes and money laundering.
The Minister said without the legislation, Government would continue to face limitations in operationalising the Bureau as a legally established and properly mandated institution.
“The longer the legislative response is delayed, the longer Fiji remains dependent on an outdated legal framework while the threat continues to evolve,” Naivalurua said.
He said the Bill represented a move away from a predominantly offence-based approach towards a coordinated, whole-of-nation counter-narcotics framework.
Naivalurua described the illicit drug challenge as a “national crisis and a national security concern”.
The Bill is scheduled to be debated in Parliament on Thursday.
