Six charged over 139.6g marijuana find in Lakeba, Lau
Six men were charged after allegedly being found with 139.6 grams of marijuana in Lakeba, Lau, on 23 June 2025. Four pleaded not guilty and one pleaded guilty, while a bench warrant was issued for the sixth man after he failed to appear in court.
Jone Vakarisi, Sekove Tikoiserea, Paula Draunidalo, Nikotimo Vasuturaga, Jokini
Deni and Elia Marau are charged after allegedly being found with 139.6 grams of
marijuana in Lakeba, Lau, on 23 June 2025.[1]Jone Vakarisi and three others
who were allegedly found with marijuana pleaded not guilty, while one man
pleaded guilty.[1]
Elia Marau pleaded guilty to a charge of being in possession of illicit drugs.[1]Marau told the court that he pleaded guilty of his own free will and was
not coerced.[1]A bench warrant was issued against Nikotimo Vasuturaga for
failing to appear in court.[1]
Vakarisi told the court that he is currently in Kadavu.[1]The prosecution was
ordered to clarify the charges against the six because one of them has pleaded
guilty.[1]The matter was adjourned to 20 January next year to fix a hearing
date.[1]
Photos and video
Jone Vakarisi and three others who were allegedly found with marijuana.Photo details
The year 2025 for the alleged possession on 23 June and for the adjourned date of 20 January 2026 is inferred from the article's 18 December 2025 publication date.
The article does not identify individually which three besides Vakarisi pleaded not guilty.
No detail was published on how or by whom the marijuana was found or seized, beyond the alleged possession in Lakeba.
The Nausori Magistrate’s Court acquitted two men of possessing 14 branches of marijuana found in a car stopped at Manoca in December 2024, ruling the drugs belonged solely to a passenger who had pleaded guilty. The court held the driver rebutted the legal presumption that drugs in a vehicle are his and acquitted a second passenger on the same basis.
The Ba Magistrate's Court convicted Alivereti Nabulivou Kunaveli for possessing 2.8 grams of marijuana at Namau, Ba. Police found the dried leaves in a sack and bag between his legs in a hired carrier after a tip about transport from Navala.
Fiji police questioned six students and released them after a 16-year-old boy was tied up and forced to inhale marijuana by a group of youths in Galoa Village, Serua, in an attack filmed and circulated on social media. No charges have been reported, the victim's family refused a traditional forgiveness ceremony, and the minister for children called the attack a serious act of violence.
A Tongan national and two others appeared in a Fiji court on 11 July 2025 charged with possessing 1.4 grams of cannabis alongside 2.26 grams of methamphetamine. Bail was denied for all three and the case was adjourned to 25 July.