Ten arrested as police uproot over 4,000 marijuana plants in Cakaudrove and Kadavu
Fiji police arrested ten people in Cakaudrove and uprooted more than 4,000 marijuana plants across northern Fiji and Kadavu in the week before 27 September 2020. Seven of those arrested were charged, including five produced in court via Tukavesi, while the owners of three Kadavu farms remained unidentified.
🇫🇯 Loa, Vunikura, Tukavesi, Taveuni and Savusavu, Cakaudrove, and Lavidi, Vacalea and Naikorokoro, Kadavu, Fiji
Police arrested a 42-year-old Turaga ni Koro, a village headman, after a raid at
his house yielded dried leaves in a plastic bag.[1]The raid occurred at his
house in Loa Village in Cakaudrove and resulted in the seizure of marijuana.[2]Following further investigation, officers found a farm with more than 180
plants believed to be marijuana that allegedly belonged to the suspect.[1]A
joint operations team arrested five other people and processed them at Tukavesi
Police Station, where they were charged and produced in court.[1]In Taveuni,
a 15-year-old boy and a 26-year-old man were arrested and charged over alleged
drug-related activities, while two farmers were arrested and processed in
Savusavu for similar offences.[2]
Across the Northern Division and Kadavu combined, police reported seizing more
than 4,000 marijuana plants.[1]In Cakaudrove, officers uprooted more than
2,000 marijuana plants from the Loa and Naqio Hills and near Vunikura Village
during the week.[2]In Kadavu, operations uprooted more than 2,000 marijuana
plants from three farms.[1]The first Kadavu raid at Lavidi Village uprooted
more than 300 marijuana plants.[1]Officers later uprooted more than 130
plants in Vacalea and more than 1,500 plants on Friday morning from a farm in
Naikorokoro Village.[1]Police said the owners of the three Kadavu farms had
not yet been located.[3]
During the week, police teams focused on the Tukavesi and Savusavu areas in the
Northern Division and on Kadavu in the Southern Division.[4]The special
operations team comprised officers from the Police Special Response Unit and
officers from different divisions targeting areas known for marijuana
cultivation.[1]Chief Operations Officer Assistant Commissioner of Police
Abdul Khan said the momentum of the anti-drug drive would increase heading into
the festive season.[1]Khan said police were targeting both green and white
drugs, noting that intelligence-driven operations against white drugs were more
complex and took longer to prepare.[2]
Photos and video
Marijuana plants uprooted from the Loa and Naqio Hills and near Vunikura Village during the seven-day operation. Picture: SUPPLIEDPhoto details
fijivillagefijivillage.comOwners of farms in Kadavu yet to be located as marijuana plants are found in separate raids
Fiji Sunfijisun.com.fj2000 Marijuana Plants Uprooted In Kadavu, Police Drug Fight Continues
Open questions the AI reported
Only the Naikorokoro Village raid is dated to Friday morning, 25 September 2020; no separate dates were given for the other raids and arrests during the week before 27 September 2020.
Whether the more than 180 plants on the village headman's farm are included in the Northern Division count of more than 2,000 plants or are additional is unclear; the report records the published combined minimum of 4,000 plants.
The individual Kadavu farm counts of more than 300 plants at Lavidi, more than 130 at Vacalea and more than 1,500 at Naikorokoro total more than 1,930, while police summarised the three farms as more than 2,000 plants.
No weight was published for the dried leaves seized in a plastic bag at the village headman's house, and no crop weight, cultivated area or street value was reported.
The number of farms raided in the Loa and Naqio Hills and near Vunikura Village was not stated, so no total site count is recorded.
No charges or court appearances were reported for the village headman or the two farmers arrested in Savusavu, and no names, pleas or court outcomes were released.
The arrests in Taveuni and Savusavu were described only as involving drug-related activities and similar offences without specifying whether all four cases involved cannabis.
One follow-up account linked the five suspects charged through Tukavesi Police Station specifically to the Loa, Naqio Hills and Vunikura uprooting, whereas earlier accounts described them only as five others arrested by the joint team.
The owners of the three raided farms in Kadavu had not yet been located.
The reports say the plants were uprooted and seized, without stating whether they were destroyed or kept as exhibits, and report no laboratory confirmation.
All published accounts stem from the same Fiji Police Force operational update rather than independent reporting.
More than 8,000 plants believed to be marijuana were uprooted from two farms in the Lea farming area of Cakaudrove. The joint Northern Division Taskforce, supported by Republic of Fiji Military Forces officers, found the farms this week while police separately seized suspected methamphetamine and cash in Laucala Beach.
Police discovered a 1,500-plant marijuana farm at Vesivuru, Lea, and a 100-plant farm at Nawi, Tukavesi, arresting the suspected owner, a 38-year-old man, as nationwide operations continued on 29 October 2026.
Northern Division police uprooted 2,371 suspected marijuana plants from two farms at Nanuca, Savusavu, on 19 October 2026. A 38-year-old farmer from Drekeniwai Village was arrested over the alleged cultivation.
Fiji Police uprooted more than 11,000 plants believed to be marijuana from a farming area in Nasuva, Cakaudrove, on 2 October 2026. The farm's owner has not been identified and police were still trying to locate them a week later; the plants were seized for analysis.
