High Court Exhibit Room Under Scrutiny. [PHOTO:LITIA CAVA]

The Suva High Court exhibit room is under the security of the Judiciary, not the Fiji Police Force.

It holds millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine and cash.

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu today explained that the police do not guard the exhibit room once exhibits are deposited with the court.

He states the judiciary has its own security arrangements, including CCTV, biometric access and a procedure requiring approval before anyone can enter the room.

However, police are now investigating how the security systems were operating during the period when the cocaine exhibits were tampered with.

Tudravu said most of the CCTV cameras were not operating, while the biometric system was also not operational.

Police are investigating when those systems stopped working and whether they were deliberately tampered with.

A key part of the investigation is establishing who had access to the exhibit room and when.

Tudravu says police do not control the exhibit room once exhibits are deposited with the Judiciary.He says questions about access to the room and how many people can enter should therefore be directed to the Judiciary.

Police have also been questioned about why the drugs remained in the court registry for years after the cases were disposed of.

Tudravu says some exhibits are retained because cases may be under appeal or because the court has ordered that they continue to be kept.

The issue of exhibit destruction is now being discussed with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Ministry of Justice.

The Commissioner states there is a process for destroying exhibits, but court orders and different interpretations can affect when that process can take place.

Six people have been identified as persons of interest based on those who had access during the period under investigation and twenty-seven people have so far been interviewed.

The cocaine was confirmed through forensic testing in February and July 2019 before the exhibits were deposited in the High Court vault on March 25, 2021.

The missing drugs were discovered during an inspection in September involving police investigators, Judiciary officials and the DPP.

Seven bars were found missing. The remaining parcels were then tested and also returned negative for cocaine.

Police are now working to establish the full sequence of events, including who entered the room, when they entered and what security systems were functioning at the time.

Tudravu says police cannot confirm whether the CCTV and biometric systems were deliberately tampered with. That is now part of the digital forensic investigation.

Police have since taken over security at the government building housing the courts.

The incident has also prompted discussions between police, the Judiciary, the Attorney-General’s Office, the DPP and the Permanent Secretary for Justice on how court exhibits are secured.

Meanwhile, police are auditing drug and cash exhibits held in police custody and have centralised drug exhibits at selected police stations with secure vaults.