SUVA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Another batch of cocaine bars has been discovered in Fiji's eastern islands.
Fiji police spokesperson Ana Naisoro said Tuesday that on July 31, one bar of cocaine was found on the island of Moturiki, while last weekend a fisherman found 35 bars of cocaine on the island of Makogai. Fijian police expect to find more cocaine bars.
The cost of one bar of cocaine is estimated to be at 840,000 Fijian dollars (about 400,000 U.S. dollars).
Fijian Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho said earlier Fijian police were working with the Fiji Navy and relevant overseas and local stakeholders after cocaine packets were discovered on the shores of Fiji's eastern islands and on Taveuni Island which is Fiji's third largest island.
The 51 bars found earlier have an estimated street value of 43 million Fijian dollars (about 20.4 million U.S. dollars).
Meanwhile, the Fiji Police Force on Monday introduced an amnesty period effective from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20 to allow those who have cocaine to hand over the illicit drugs to authorities.
In a statement on Monday, commissioner of Fijian police said they had received information about people trying to sell the illicit drugs on streets.
"While investigations are on-going, we are calling on anyone who may have found any bars of cocaine to utilize this amnesty period and hand them over to police," Qiliho said.
Similar findings of cocaine were made in Tonga where 58 bars in total were found on two of their islands, and have been confirmed to be the same quality of cocaine found in Fiji.
Qiliho said the close proximity of the Tongan group of islands to Fiji was a major concern, however, any drug discovery in the Pacific was equally concerning.
