The fourth prosecution witness in the trial of Australian couple, John and Yvette Nikolic told the court today that he and his officers found drugs, arms and ammunition on John Nikolic’s yacht, Shenanigan.
Tomasi Drisi who is a Fiji Revenue and Customs Service Officer, has been working for Revenue and Customs Service for 27 years, and is the chief drug enforcement officer for the past year.
He says they found 10 bars in a bag that was taped with duct tape on the yacht.
Drisi says they conducted two tests on the substance and it was confirmed that it was cocaine.
Drisi told the court that he saw John was in tears and John informed him about three more bars.
He adds they found three more bars where John said it would be.
He says John asked if he can have a word with his wife as according to John, Yvette did not know about the drugs and he needed to explain it to her.
Drisi says he approved his request and he was with his officers in front of the vessel when John spoke to Yvette.
The Australian couple are jointly charged with two counts of possession of illicit drugs, one count of possession of arms and ammunition without a licence and two counts of unlawful importation of illicit drugs.
It is alleged that the couple had imported 12.9 kilograms of cocaine and 34.4 grams of methamphetamine with an estimated value of between $20 to $30 million.
It is also alleged that they failed to declare that they had in their possession two pistols with 112 rounds of live ammunition.
Meanwhile, Justice Daniel Goundar has adjourned the trial to tomorrow as one of the assessors has fallen ill.
