More than 5,000 marijuana plants seized from a farm in Yale, Kadavu
Fiji police seized more than 5,000 plants believed to be marijuana from a farm in the Naioti terrains in Yale, Kadavu, and worked to identify the farm's owner. Assistant Commissioner of Operations Livai Driu said a special drug operations team was on the island pursuing information about cultivation there.
More than 5,000 plants believed to be marijuana were discovered on a farm in the
Naioti terrains in Yale, Kadavu.[1]Assistant Commissioner of Operations Livai
Driu said the find was seized and that police were trying to identify the owner
of the farm.[1]Driu said a special drug operations team was on the island
pursuing information about alleged cultivation of the drug, as police target
cultivators and suppliers.[1]
He said arrests were being made in urban centres for users while operations
against cultivators and suppliers ran concurrently throughout the Divisions.[1]Driu said police were doing all they could to curb the illegal drug trade
but needed public support, pointing to increased admissions to St Giles Hospital
for drug and substance abuse.[1]The Fiji Police Force said it hoped the
harmful effects of drugs would be discussed more in community social and
religious groups.[1]Members of the public were urged to pass information on
alleged drug activity to Crimestoppers on 919 or through the Fiji Police’s
social media pages.[1]
Photos and video
Plants believed to be marijuana on the farm in the Naioti terrains in Yale, Kadavu, published with the report on the discovery of more than 5,000 plants. Picture: SUPPLIEDPhoto details
The article gives no separate day for the discovery; 28 June 2023, when The Fiji Times last updated the page, is used as the incident date.
The plants are described as believed to be marijuana, with no laboratory confirmation reported.
The plant figure is given only as more than 5,000, with no weight, cultivated area, farm size or drug value published.
No arrest, charge, suspect or owner of the farm was reported.
Yale is named as the location on Kadavu; no precise coordinates or village for the Naioti terrains were published, so the island is used for coordinates.
Only one account of this find, The Fiji Times report of a police statement, could be opened.
The page does not say whether the plants were destroyed or kept as exhibits.
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.
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.
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.
