Missing cocaine bars put court evidence security under scrutiny

The security of evidence held by Fiji’s courts has come under scrutiny after Minister for Justice and acting Attorney-General Siromi Turaga acknowledged that a place believed to be among the safest for storing exhibits was not secure.

The admission came in Parliament as Opposition MPs questioned whether all evidence held in custody should now be checked following the disappearance of cocaine from the High Court exhibit room in Suva and negative forensic results from the remaining drug exhibits.

“It is only proper as head of the bar to express my disappointment on the release made by Police that the forensic test conducted on the remaining drug exhibits have all returned negative,” the acting AG said.

Mr Turaga said the matter remained under investigation and urged patience and trust in the process.

Opposition MP Premila Kumar questioned whether the area where the exhibits were stored had cameras and whether audits had been carried out.

Mr Turaga said he could not answer that question.

But he acknowledged concerns about the security of the facility.

“A place where we believed is the safest is not.”

He said the situation highlighted the magnitude of the problem, particularly as Fiji dealt with transnational organised crime.

Opposition MP Faiyaz Koya then questioned whether the incident warranted a complete check of evidence held by the courts and Police, raising concerns that other evidence could have been compromised.

Mr Turaga said it was “too early to say”, but confirmed Police had taken steps to improve the control of exhibits.

“In terms of the Police, they've taken positive actions where exhibits are controlled in specific areas, unlike before, where they kept at respective stations.”

Mr Turaga said similar incidents had occurred previously, including a case in Lautoka involving cash and drugs.