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A 12.9-kilogram cocaine exhibit linked to former Australian horse trainer John Nikolic has also been reported missing from the Suva High Court exhibit vault.

Police say the matter was reported on March 26 and is now part of a wider investigation into missing drug exhibits held by the court.

Nikolic was originally sentenced to 23 years in prison in 2019 but his sentence was later reduced by the Supreme Court.

Acting Director of Criminal Investigations Department Peni Tuivaga confirmed the cocaine is missing and says investigators have been following leads and recording witness statements.

He says police did not immediately make the investigation public because disclosing details could alert people who may be connected to the disappearance and compromise the investigation.

The disclosure comes as police investigate the disappearance of cocaine exhibits linked to the Joshua Aziz Rahman case.

In the Rahman case, more than $31 million worth of cocaine was seized and confirmed through forensic testing. Seven bars were later found missing.

Police then tested the remaining parcels and found that they no longer contained cocaine. The Rahman cocaine was first tested in February 2019 and confirmed as cocaine.

A second purity test carried out in July 2019, at the request of the court, also confirmed the substance was cocaine.

The exhibits were deposited in the Suva High Court vault on March 25, 2021.

More than five years later, the discrepancy was discovered during an inspection of the exhibits ahead of their proposed destruction.

Police have since identified six persons of interest in the Rahman investigation, with 37 people interviewed so far.

One of the six persons of interest is currently overseas. Police have not disclosed the country, saying the information could affect the investigation.

Police Commissioner Rusiate Tudravu says the remaining persons of interest are in Fiji and measures are in place.

Investigators are examining documentary records, financial transactions, CCTV footage, biometric records and the movements of people who had access to the exhibit room.

The investigation is also looking at how the exhibits were stored and who had access to them after they were deposited with the court.

The Nikolic and Rahman cases are now being investigated as part of the wider inquiry into missing drug exhibits.

The investigation team includes senior officers from CID, Major Crimes, Digital Forensics and the Anti-Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Division, with assistance from the Financial Intelligence Unit.

Police say investigations into both cases are continuing, with the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the 12.9 kilograms of cocaine in the Nikolic case still being established.