Thieves swipe drugs under nose of Fiji police, swap with flour

A significant amount of cocaine, totaling 52kg, has been stolen from an evidence room at Fiji's High Court, with half of it replaced with flour. The CCTV at the courthouse was not functioning when the drugs were stolen, and six suspects are currently under investigation. Additionally, 7kg of cocaine was stolen from the Suva High Court two weeks ago, and 12.9kg seized during a 2018 raid on Australian horse trainer John Nikolic's yacht have also gone missing.

The street value of the missing cocaine could be worth more than $20 million. Fiji Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu expressed concern over the issue and stated that authorities are conducting a full audit of other exhibits in police possession. Fiji has become a hotspot for transnational drug trafficking in the Pacific region.

Brief written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.