A 40-year-old General Manager from Tamavua charged following the interception of a cocaine shipment sent from Braziio has been further remanded in custody.
Shonal Sharma made his first appearance before Senior Magistrate Sufia Hamza at the Suva Magistrate’s Court this afternoon.
Mr Sharma has been charged with one count of Unlawful Importation of Illicit Drugs.
It is alleged that the consignment, addressed to the Mr Sharma’s company, arrived in the country on October 25 this year. The package, which was declared as a “smoke machine,” was flagged as suspicious after being detected by a drug detector dog during inspection.
When the package was opened, officers discovered that a device labeled as a smoke machine contained a motherboard with a black cover. Upon cutting the cover open, a white powdered substance was found hidden inside.
Preliminary tests confirmed the substance to be cocaine, weighing approximately 640 grams. Following this discovery, a controlled delivery was conducted.
On October 30, a police team intercepted a vehicle at the company’s car park and arrested Mr Sharma who was allegedly in possession of the package.
Mr Sharma is represented by Senior Lawyer Feizal Haniff from Haniff Tuitoga.
The case has been adjourned to November 4 for consideration of bail
