Fiji police uproot 2,082 marijuana plants in Vanua Levu raids
Fiji's Operation Sasamaki raided farms across Vanua Levu on 5 and 6 January 2015, uprooting 2,082 marijuana plants and holding 15 people in custody. Police said January would be dedicated to eradicating drug cultivation and that analysts would test seizures on the spot so suspects face court quickly.
Police raided marijuana farms across Vanua Levu on 5 and 6 January 2015 in the first week of Operation Sasamaki, a January campaign against drug cultivation in Fiji’s Northern Division.[1][2][3]On 5 January officers carried out six raids, uprooting 861 plants and seizing two parcels of suspected marijuana, and seven people were kept in custody for questioning.[1]A day later, in the operation’s second phase, officers uprooted 956 plants from two farms near Tukavesi and 265 plants from six farms near Savusavu, and confiscated dried leaves from one farm, with eight people in custody.[2]
New approach
Police said January would be dedicated to eradicating drug cultivation and sale, with the operation moving to other divisions in the coming weeks.[2][3]Under a new approach, a police analyst would travel with raid teams to test seizures immediately so charges could be laid and suspects brought to court quickly instead of being released pending analysis.[1][2]By 12 January investigators were working with crime prevention committees to identify the owners of raided farms.[3]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
No weight for the dried leaves or the two parcels seized was published.
No charges or court outcomes were reported in the opened sources.
The whole account rests on three reports from a single newspaper quoting police.
The source pages show raid photos, including one captioned as a Valebasoga seizure; they are not listed here because the images could not be viewed for verification.
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.
