Accused Jale Aukerea (centre) makes his way to the Nadi Magistrates Court on 29 January 2023. Photo: The Fiji Times/ Reinal Chand
A Nadi man charged with allegedly concealing over a tonne of methamphetamine at a property in the Western Division is the proprietor of a popular Nadi kava bar who also owns a business that has imported kava to Australia, RNZ Pacific and The Fiji Times have found.
Jale Aukerea, 42, was among 13 people charged over two separate seizures of a total of 4.8 tonnes of meth last month, which Fiji Police have said was imported into the country by barge and was intended for re-export abroad.
Aukerea has been charged in part with concealing 1.1 tonnes of the meth at a property in Maqalevu, Nadi.
Some of the drugs had been transferred from large bundles into smaller packaging disguised as 62 packets of kava, police have said.
Aukerea is the well-known operator of Kava Kings, a Votualevu kava bar known for hosting and promoting concerts by Fijian artists such as Paradise Rootz, Tana Music, and Vegas 6, RNZ Pacific and The Fiji Times have found.
Corporate registry documents also show he is the part-owner and director of another company in Sydney by the same name, Kava Kings Pty Ltd, that promotes itself online as "Official Australian Government Approved Importers."
Police photos from the Maqalevu raid show packages of "Kadavu Waka" that do not display the Kava Kings brand.
About 1.1 tonnes of methamphetamine was found concealed in containers in the Fijian town of Nadi, police said on 21 January, 2024. Photo: Supplied/ Fiji Police
Police and prosecutors have not alleged any link between Aukerea's Fijian and Australian businesses and the alleged meth plot.
Kava Kings' Australian website features branded merchandise such as socks, t-shirts, bucket hats, and bandanas.
Its website features advertisements for a series of reggae concerts it promoted in August 2022 in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane dubbed "Stir It Up".
The concerts featured acts from popular Fijian artists including Billy T, Ratu, and Taufa, KKU and Kuki.
Aukerea's Sydney-based partner in Kava Kings Pty Ltd, Peter Su, said he had been unaware that Aukerea had been arrested in the meth bust.
"We parted ways about over two years ago, so we haven't had contact or communications for quite a long time," he said.
Su added that Aukerea's initial plans for the company, founded in 2020, was for it to be a major kava importer, but that business soon fizzled.
With assistance from the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP)
About 1.1 tonnes of methamphetamine was found concealed in containers in the Fijian town of Nadi, police said on 21 January, 2024. Photo: Supplied/ Fiji Police