Police uproot $5m worth of marijuana plants on Kadavu without arrests
Fiji Police uprooted and seized more than $5 million worth of marijuana plants in a raid on drug farms in one of the villages on Kadavu in October 2019, with arrests made in none of the drug farm raids. Acting Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu defended the raids, saying prior notice would let cultivators dispose of the plants and that police achieved their aim of destroying the farms.
Police uprooted and seized more than $5 million worth of marijuana plants in a
raid on drug farms in one of the villages on Kadavu the month before the reports
were published.[1]Acting Commissioner of Police Rusiate Tudravu confirmed the
raid and said officers had conducted drug farm raids in areas where no arrests
were made.[1]Tudravu said the force’s focus was to destroy marijuana plants
from farms.[1]
Tudravu, given as Deputy Commissioner of Police in a second account of the raid,
said villagers had asked why police carried out the raid without arresting
anyone.[2]He said police gave no prior notification of raids because it would
let cultivators dispose of the illegal substances, and that the uprooted plants
had since been brought to Suva.[2]Tudravu said the police raid was carried
out on reliable information and that other farm raids had also produced no
arrests.[2]He said community policing teams were making ongoing follow-up
visits to villages where raids had been carried out.[2]Tudravu said police
sometimes approach a village’s headman but in other situations carry out the
raid beforehand, depending on the situation on the ground.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
The reports say only that the raid happened 'last month' before their 12 November 2019 publication, so 31 October 2019 stands in for the incident date rather than being a stated one.
No figure for the number of plants uprooted, the area cleared or any dried cannabis weight was published.
The $5 million estimate is given with a dollar sign but no currency code; it is recorded as Fiji dollars.
Neither account names the village, the farm or its owner, and no one was arrested, charged or named in the reports.
The first account calls Tudravu Acting Commissioner and the second calls him Deputy Commissioner; both are used as written.
Both Fiji Times pieces are the same outlet's coverage of one raid, so no independent account was found.
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.
