The Fiji Financial Intelligence Unit was involved in investigating and gathering evidence against Canadian national Joshua Aziz Rahman who was today sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for drug possession.

Director FIU, Razim Buksh says the Unit provided targeted financial intelligence during the investigation and identified suspicious wire transfers, shell companies, unusual account activities, and asset tracing.

Buksh says this is an excellent outcome of law enforcement cooperation and networking, and profiling and targeting of key individuals shows how we can disrupt international criminal networks in Fiji.

He adds that drug trafficking, cultivation and related offences continue to be the biggest contributor to money laundering risks in Fiji.

The FIU is one of the leading agencies responsible for preventing and detecting money laundering, terrorist financing and related criminal activities such as drug trafficking.

Buksh says the FIU uses a data-mining and data-monitoring system to generate meaningful intelligence that is shared with partners in Fiji and internationally.

The FIU currently has over 20 million financial transaction records in its database which is useful in profiling suspects, identifying and monitoring flow of funds, tracing syndicates and conducting financial surveillance.