Chief Justice blames prosecution over missing cocaine

Chief Justice Salesi Temo has blamed the prosecution over its failure to seek the destruction of 39.5kg of cocaine during the early stages of a drug case.

The comments come as police investigate the disappearance of seven bars of cocaine evidence from the High Court in Suva exhibit room.

Justice Temo said he only became aware of the missing exhibits after reading about them in the newspaper this morning.

“If I was the prosecutor representing the prosecution, as soon as I got a conviction and a sentence, I would ask the trial judge for the exhibits to be properly destroyed to avoid the risk of them being stolen, like the allegation now being made. Had the prosecutor done that, the court would have moved towards destroying the drugs,” Justice Temo said.

He said once the matter was reported, people turned to blame the court.

“People are blaming the court. No, it is the prosecutor who brought the case to court. It is their responsibility, on behalf of the taxpayers and the public, to fight for the State, and that includes the proper destruction of the drugs.”

He said he was determined to identify those responsible and remove them from the system.

The missing exhibits are linked to a 2019 drug case involving Canadian national Joshua Rahman, who was convicted in 2021 and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.

The 39.5kg of cocaine, valued at approximately $31 million, was discovered in Rahman's father's bedroom in Caubati, Nasinu.

Police investigations continue. Questions were sent to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, which confirmed that it would issue a statement later as it obtains more details of the case.

Read more in the Fiji Sun print edition tomorrow.