The New Zealand Parole Board has confirmed that Fijian national Aiyaz Mohammed Musa Umarji appeared before it recently. Umarji was sentenced to four years in prison in August 2023 by the New Zealand High Court for importing pseudoephedrine tablets, a precursor to methamphetamine, into the country.
Court documents reveal that Umarji and an accomplice organized the shipment of 3,600 packets of the medication from Turkey to Fiji via New Zealand, totaling 108,000 pills that entered New Zealand. At the time of the offence, he was the owner of Hypercam Pharmacy in Lautoka while residing in Fiji.
In a plea agreement, Umarji left Fiji to accept his four-year sentence in August 2023. He subsequently appealed against the sentence in December 2023, leading the judge, Justice Laura O’Gorman, to reduce the prison term from four years to three years and six months, acknowledging his return to face justice.
Geordie Cassin, communications manager for the New Zealand Parole Board, confirmed Umarji’s appearance before the board but did not provide details about the outcome of the hearing. He noted that a decision would be publicly announced within ten days.