Police relieved no guns found in cocaine bust

Fiji's Police Commissioner is relieved that foreign nationals arrested with a large cocaine shipment in Ta­vua were not carrying "arms".

As experts warn, large drug consignments are often linked to armed individuals.

Commissioner Rusiate Tudra­vu said the absence of arms during the Vatia Wharf interception stood out, given inter­national trends where arms fre­quently accompany major drug movements.

The comments points to grow­ing concerns that Fiji could face more dangerous and heavi­ly armed traffickers as overseas syndicates continue using the country as a transit point.

Transnational crime expert, Associate Professor Jose Sousa-Santos of the Pacific Re­gional Security Hub at the Uni­versity of Canterbury, said it would be unusual for shipments of that scale not to involve weap­ons.

Authorities had seized around 2.64 tonnes (2640 kg) of cocaine at the Vatia wharf in Tavua, on January 15.

Six men - four Ec­uadorian nationals and two Fi­jians - were arrested and have been charged in connection with this seizure.

Police and media reports estimate the street value of the seized cocaine at about AUS$780 million (F J$1.3 billion).

"There would be weapons, espe­cially when dealing with these amounts of drugs," Mr Sousa­Santos said.

He warned there could be seri­ous consequences for those re­sponsible for transporting the drugs if shipments fail to reach their intended destination.

"This depends on which cartels you are dealing with. Some guar­antee delivery while others do not, but there are always reper­cussions if the drugs are seized or lost and it is considered their fault," he said.

Earlier this week, Mr Tudravu briefed members of the United States Congress on Fiji's growing exposure to transnational drug trafficking, saying the country remains a transit point for drugs moving between South America, Europe and other regions.

Mr Tudravu said Fiji does not have established drug laborato­ries, although there have been isolated attempts by individuals to produce small quantities of synthetic substances using in­formation found online.

"We don't have the expertise or facilities to produce these drugs," he said.