Fiji meth bust. Photo: Fiji Police
The Fiji Police says the 4.8 tonnes of methamphetamine seized during last month's major drug raids is "under 24/7 CCTV surveillance" and they cannot comment on where it is stored "due to security reasons".
Almost a month since the first drug bust on 14 January in Legalega in Nadi, and then second one in Maqalevu a week later on 20 January, 14 people have so far been charged and currently being held in remand.
The accused face charges for importation and possession of illicit drugs and are set to appear back in court on 27 March.
Police say the drugs, which had a street value of about FJ$2 billion, were shipped into the country and were "destined for the foreign market".
They are not ruling out the involvement of local and international organised crime syndicates as well as local police and border officials in the movement of the drugs.
Fiji's acting director of public prosecution John Rabuku has said that "authorities aim to establish the full extent of those involved" by 21 February.
Home Affairs Minister Pio TIkoduadua had told local media on 19 January that the drugs that were seized on the 14th of last month were removed from the Namaka Police Station and placed under "strict surveillance" at the Nasova Police academy.
Since then, there has been no further updates on where the seized drugs are stored.
"On the storage of the meth, we won't confirm on that due to security reasons," a police spokesperson told RNZ Pacific.
"However, people can be assured that it's still under 24/7 CCTV surveillance within a secured police premises."
The spokesperson said police would not be making further comments on it as investigation is continuing.
On Monday, Fiji's Attorney-General Siromi Turaga said that a certain amount of meth from the seizures had already entered the streets before police conducted the raids.
"What was transported from the yacht to the truck and the picture of what was on that truck does not match what was captured by the police. So basically [this] means that most of that is out on the street," Turaga was quoted by state broadcaster FBC.
