Fiji’s Methamphetamine Crisis: Pacific’s biggest Drug Bust and surging HIV Rates | The Index from The Index

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Fiji’s Methamphetamine Crisis: Pacific’s biggest Drug Bust and surging HIV Rates | The Index

14 minutes Posted Jan 26, 2026 at 5:00 am.

Fiji’s record meth bust (4+ tons) and regional context

Families under pressure: violence, theft, and addiction

Foreign criminal influence

“Payment in kind” and the growth of local markets

Sex workers, foreign clients, and risks

Secondary impacts: crime, education, employability

Synthetic drugs: fastest-growing criminal market

Call for rehab capacity and international support

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Show notes

In January 2024, Fiji recorded the Pacific’s largest methamphetamine seizure of over four tons bound for Australia. If sold there, the drugs would have had an estimated street value up to 1.2 billion Australian dollars.

This episode of The Index unpacks how Fiji has become a key transit hub and takes a closer look at the emerging domestic market, the role of foreign criminal networks and the devastating impacts on Fijian society, including a tenfold rise in HIV cases over the past decade.

Guests:

Virginia Comolli, Head of Pacific Programme, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Sesenieli Naitala, Survival Advocacy Network - Fiji

Host:

Thin Lei Win

Learn more: Global Organized Crime Index — ocindex.net

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