22 arrested as 47,042 marijuana plants seized in Fiji's north
A joint Fiji Police Force and military operation seized 47,042 marijuana plants from 93 farms in the Northern Division, with 22 people arrested. Policing Minister Ioane Naivalurua announced the totals in a ministerial statement in Parliament on 26 May 2026.
🇫🇯 Northern Division, Fiji
·
Arrested
22
Plants destroyed
47,042
Sites
93
Agencies
Fiji Police Force, Republic of Fiji Military Forces
More than 47,000 marijuana plants were seized in Fiji’s Northern Division during
joint police and military operations against illicit drugs.[1][2]A joint
operation by the Fiji Police Force and the Republic of Fiji Military Forces
seized the plants from 93 farms in the Northern Division.[1]A joint Fiji
Police Force and Republic of Fiji Military Forces operation seized a total of
47,042 marijuana plants from 93 farms in the Northern Division, with 22 people
arrested.[1]
Minister for Policing and Communications Ioane Naivalurua revealed the figures
while delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament.[1][2]The statement was
reported on 26 May 2026.[1]Naivalurua presented the seizure as part of
developments under the National Joint Enforcement Centre.[1]
Separately, Naivalurua said 68 people had been arrested in the Central and
Eastern divisions for possession of methamphetamine, other illicit drugs and
proceeds of crime during roadblocks and other searches.[1][2]Naivalurua assured
that the Fiji Police Force remained fully in control of ongoing intelligence-led
operations against illicit drug networks and transnational organised crime.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
22
Plants destroyed
47,042
Sites
93
Agencies
Fiji Police Force; Republic of Fiji Military Forces
The article gives no separate dates for the farm seizures; 26 May 2026, the date of the ministerial statement and publication, is used as the incident date.
No locations for the 93 farms, and no plant weight, area, value or laboratory confirmation were published.
No charges, identities or court outcomes were reported for the 22 arrested people.
The 68 arrests in the Central and Eastern divisions involved methamphetamine, other illicit drugs and proceeds of crime and are excluded from the cannabis figures.
Only one source for this statement could be opened; no second account confirming these totals was found.
This account rounds the seizure to more than 47,000 plants and gives no farm count, so the precise 47,042-plant and 93-farm totals rest on the earlier Fiji Sun account.
Police with K-9 units arrested four men at Narain Jetty, Suva, on the night of 18 October 2026 after finding dried leaves, green branches and sachets believed to be marijuana in luggage of outer-island arrivals. Analysis was pending.
Police in Fiji's Northern Division seized more than 7,000 marijuana plants, some over four metres tall, from a farm at Qaranibali in Vusasivo, Natewa, on 25 March 2026. A drone found the plantation during Operation Sasamaki; the plants were taken for analysis and police said three months later that no arrests had been made.
The Savusavu Operations team seized more than 400 plants believed to be marijuana in a raid at the Tacilevu farming area on 26 November 2024. The farm owner was yet to be known and investigations were continuing, with no arrests reported.
A Savusavu police team seized more than 4,000 plants believed to be marijuana in a raid in the Vusasivo area, reported on 7 June 2024. No arrests, charges or court outcomes for the seizure were reported.
