Police Raid at Port Mua-i-Walu 1
People show damage to property, photos of money taken
Officers from the Fiji Detector Dog Unit conducted a raid on three companies at Port Mua-i-Walu 1 on Wednesday night.
Fiji Police Force spokesperson Ana Naisoro confirmed this yesterday saying allegedly unlicensed alcohol and cigarettes were among items that were seized.
“More than $40,000 Fijian currency and up to $1000 foreign currency was recovered. Also seized were dried leaves believed to be marijuana,” Ms Naisoro said.
Darren Zhang, the manager of Sunshine Fisheries Limited, one of the companies that was raided, raised concerns about the manner the raid was conducted and the damage caused.
He said the owner of the shop downstairs told him about the raid at around midnight, adding that he had lodged a complaint with the Police officer who recorded his statement at his office.
Mr Zhang said Police removed his CCTV cameras and the monitor and went through their storage room, but did not take anything.
When questioned, Ms Naisoro said section 22 of the Illicit Drugs Act gave Police the power to conduct raids without a search warrant.
“A Police officer may exercise any of the powers in section 21 without a warrant if the grounds for obtaining a warrant under that section exist and the officer believes on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to do so in order to prevent the concealment, loss or destruction of anything connected with an offence against this Act,” she said. A female shop assistant in her 40s was taken into Police custody as investigations continued.