How $2 Billion in Methamphetamine Reached Nadi

The country’s geographical location, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, makes it an ideal hub for foreign drug cartels and syndicates smuggling illegal drugs into Australia and New Zealand.

Also because cartels have set up networks throughout the Pacific region, particularly in Fiji and Tonga.

Police and cross-border crime experts say drug syndicates operating both locally and internationally are a cause for concern, and expect their tactics and illicit influence to grow as authorities crack down on illegal activities.

But Fiji is more than just a transit port where we receive the abundance of illegal drug shipments.

Locals are now producing methamphetamine, better known as meth or ice, to sell and make a quick buck.

Police have searched homes where meth cooking equipment was seized. There are hotspots, known to police, where meth use is widespread.

In July this year, police seized a shipment of equipment from Canada from a warehouse in Nadi. The shipment was allegedly used to The country’s geographic location, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, makes it an ideal hub for overseas cartels and syndicates to transport illegal drugs to Australia and New Zealand.

Also because cartels have set up networks throughout the Pacific region, particularly in Fiji and Tonga.

Police and cross-border crime experts say drug syndicates operating both locally and internationally are a cause for concern, and expect their tactics and illicit influence to grow as authorities crack down on illegal activities.

But Fiji is more than just a transit port where we receive the abundance of illegal drug shipments.

Locals are now producing methamphetamine, better known as meth or ice, to sell and make a quick buck.

Police have searched homes where meth cooking equipment was seized. There are hotspots, known to police, where meth use is widespread.

are involved.
We also detail how the 4.15 tonnes of methamphetamine seized in Nadi ended up in Viti Levu.

TRANSIT ROUTE
The Pacific Ocean is a major transit route for drugs smuggled from South America and Southeast Asia to markets in Australia and New Zealand.

The meth produced by syndicates in Southeast Asia is transported across the Pacific Ocean. Fiji is a popular departure point for this because of its location as a hub for the region, its large population and its economy.

Meth produced in Mexico or cocaine from South America take a slightly different route. These drugs travel via various smuggling routes towards Fiji and Tonga before reaching Australia and New Zealand.

“What’s happening is they’re using a lot of different methods and what we need to look at is what tactics are being used in Southeast Asia, South America and the United States,” Mr Sousa-Santos said.

“What (cartels) are doing is not new. They are just contextualizing it to thrive in the Pacific.”

Mr Sousa-Santos stressed that the Fiji Revenue and Customs Authority must detect drugs that are packaged in other goods and exported abroad.

DRUG TRAFFIC
In July this year, police seized a consignment of equipment from Canada from a warehouse in Nadi. The consignment is believed to have been used to Established networks of cartels in the Pacific, particularly in Fiji and Tonga, enable large quantities of illegal drugs to be moved undetected into Australia and New Zealand.

Grid coordinates and satellite phones are used to identify the pick-up points, which are normally outside Fiji’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), beyond the reach of local maritime surveillance.

Drug traffickers smuggle drugs by air, sea and even human carriers.

Our research shows that the main methods used are yachts, boats and small vessels offloading large quantities of meth within Fiji’s EEZ or beyond.

These shipments can then be collected and transported unnoticed to another destination.

Once it reaches Fiji’s shores, local networks consisting of sex workers, high-risk criminals, mid-level agents and young opportunists, referred to as ‘foot soldiers’, emerge. These networks are set up by larger criminal syndicates to facilitate their illegal activities.

“Once (drugs) reach Fiji they can be broken down or even stored, as we saw with the drug seizure in Nadi,” Mr Sousa-Santos said.

NADI DRUG ATTACKS

The drug raids in Nadi show the complexity of Fiji’s drug network.

The 4.15 tonnes of meth was transported in a rented barge that docked at one of Nadi’s famous marinas in the early morning of December 23 last year.

The planning was done months before the drugs reached the borders of Fiji. On December 14, 2023, an unknown white man was already analyzing how deep the water was at the said marina. And already another unknown white man was booked into a hotel at the said marina.

Before the sealed drugs reached Fiji, a white superyacht measuring approximately 62 feet long, unnamed but flying the Fijian flag, was moored outside the waters of Yasawa.

The yacht was carrying three unidentified white men, two of whom spoke the same language. It appears that the three had been sailing for months and that their stop was the waters of Fiji.

In December, three trips were made to retrieve the drugs from the superyacht.

The first time was on December 20, 2023. Six people (names withheld) left from another marina in Nadi in the rented boat with gallons of fuel.

Upon reaching Yasawa waters, there was no superyacht in sight due to a miscommunication about the grid coordinates of where the superyacht was. The six men then returned to the marina.

On December 21, around 10:00 am, they left again after reconfirming the coordinates of the pick-up point.

This time they headed for the waters of Malolo, but still no superyacht was in sight. Later they returned, but booked rooms in an island resort for the night.

On December 22, 2023, the six men left the island resort and returned to the marina around 9 a.m.

Later that morning, after successful contact with the men aboard the yacht, four individuals (names withheld) re-boarded the boat, one of whom was one of the unidentified white males.

He used a satellite phone and assisted the ship’s captain with navigation until they reached the superyacht moored outside Fiji’s EEZ at around 6pm that same day.

The four loaded 40 gallons of fuel onto the superyacht and began stacking the sealed containers of drugs into the bow. They left the yacht around 8 p.m. and reached the marina around 6 a.m. on December 23.

Upon arrival at the marina, the sealed drugs were loaded into large recycling bags – approximately 16 bags in total. Some of the sealed containers of drugs were wet and slightly opened due to the seawater.

These bags were transported to a workshop in Denarau owned by a local businessman (name withheld).

The drug trade in Nadi took place in late December and early January and involved ‘medium-sized agents’ and a number of ‘foot soldiers’ who were involved consciously and unconsciously.

Drugs were transported by rental cars, trucks and pick-up vans. Local networks used a different type of phone app for communication.

The drugs were distributed, some repackaged into kava packets. The result was the seizure of 3.1 tons of meth from an empty house in Legalega and 1.05 tons from an apartment rented by the local networks in Maqalevu.

SEPARATE TRIP
On December 24, the day after the drugs reached Nadi, another trip was made to the superyacht.

This time the two unknown white men and a local resident, who was unaware of what had happened, did go.

The three boarded a rented fiberglass boat from one of the marinas, which had gallons of fuel on board.

The superyacht was still moored at the same location, with the three unidentified white men on board.

They slept in the yacht and returned to the same marina the next morning. On December 25th, only the local made the trip to the yacht with 36 gallons of fuel.

He made another trip on December 26th to get a few more gallons of fuel, returning with three garbage bags full of trash and three large empty recycling bags.

On December 27, the local resident was instructed by one of the unidentified white men in the marina to return the three large empty recycling bags to the yacht, which he did.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE
Communication about the drug shipment between the masterminds and local mid-level officials began months before the shipment.

The vacant house in Legalega had already been prepared to house the 3.1 tons of meth. Several people visited the house months before the shipment.

In Maqalevu, rent of over $2,000 a month was paid to the landlord, who was unaware that drugs were kept in the apartment. Hotels in Nadi were used by some local networks, some booked by their relatives.

Drugs seized during the Nadi raid.

Most of the locals involved were business people living in Nadi, and some were unwittingly involved in the shipping and transportation of the drugs from the high seas to Nadi and overland.

Those involved were business associates, family members or mutual friends.

HIERARCHY
Mr Sousa-Santos said the local “gangs” who ultimately control prostitution, human trafficking, collaboration with Chinese triads, Southeast Asian syndicates and cartels were foot soldiers.

“These are the ones you hear about… the horrible violence that is being perpetrated on other addicts, and they all involve people who are very high up in the hierarchy… who are the untouchables,” he said.

Mr Sousa-Santos

According to Mr Sousa-Santos, only medium-sized officers were arrested and charged following the Nadi drug raids.

“There were no players who could have facilitated and controlled the movement of such a large amount of meth. We’re talking about billions of dollars. We’re talking about very serious people in several high-level positions.

“If you look closely, only mid-level officers have been arrested and charged.

“There were no players who could have facilitated and controlled the movement of such a large quantity of methamphetamine.”

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