A 27-year-old man from Port Vila was sentenced in the Supreme Court on 10 June 2026, according to the Vanuatu Daily Post. The report names him as Diomel Assial. He was arrested in the Freshwota 4 area on 13 February 2025. The court accepted 78.5 grams of cannabis, not the 262.3 grams the prosecution claimed.
He sold small cannabis balls for VT100 each, according to police. He pleaded guilty to unlawful possession and attempted sale under the Dangerous Drugs Act. The two-year starting term was reduced to 10 months 20 days, suspended for two years with probation and community work. He has 14 days to appeal.
Why it matters: The gap between 262 g and 78.5 g shows how much the weight claimed matters. A small street seller avoided prison, but a suspended sentence still hangs over him.
Source: Vanuatu Daily Post, 2026-06-17 (translated from en). Forgotten Prisoner's account is based on this reporting.