Over fifty six million dollars worth of marijuana plants were uprooted for the first nine months of this year alone by the Fiji Police Force.

That was the revelation today by the Director National Intelligence Bureau, SSP Henry Brown while speaking at the 2nd National Anti-Money Laundering Conference.

According to SSP Brown, drug cultivation and its proceeds falls under money laundering and this is one aspect the Fiji Police Force is looking at.

According to Data from the Drug Unit, upto September this year over 11 thousand marijuana plants were uprooted with an estimated street value of over 56 million dollars while for last year, 49 thousand 985 plants were uprooted with an estimated value of close to $250 million.

According to the Drug Unit, the area that is being referred to as the main source of marijuana is the Navosa Highlands where they are now focusing most of their man power.

However, SSP Brown said with the lack of expertise their battle against the drug trade in the country is tough.

He said many times they have had to release suspects as their capability of forensic analysts are limited to deal and assess the type of drugs and this has held up a lot of investigations.

Despite this, SSP Brown said the battle against the multi million dollar drug trade in the country will continue.


Story by: Paradise Tabucala