Amid the trial of seven people for Fiji’s largest-ever drug seizure—more than four tonnes of methamphetamine estimated at FJ$2 billion (US$860 million) in value—state prosecutor John Rabuku has warned that the Pacific nation is an emerging “hub for transnational drug trafficking and organised crime networks across the Pacific.”
In late January 2024, Fijian authorities raided a vacant house that was under construction in the tourist town of Nadi. Hidden there were about 800 medium-sized containers wrapped in brown tape that contained the drug, locally known as “ice,” which was later destroyed in a high-temperature furnace.