Ratu Cavuilati: ABC podcaster caught selling coke twice in four months

He’s a popular broadcaster with an ABC show and a loyal cult following. But away from the microphone he was also running a drug dealing side hustle.

A popular podcaster who hosts a show on ABC Radio Australia was caught selling cocaine twice in the space of four months in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

Ratu Cavuilati, 31, from Campsie, was busted by police selling cocaine in January then again in April.

On both occasions he was caught selling the drug from his car, a Nissan X-Trail, while driving around the eastern suburbs.

Cavuilati co-hosts a sports podcast Can You Be More Pacific with his best mate, which was picked up by the ABC, a court heard on Tuesday.

Ratu Cavuilati hosted a show on ABC Radio Australia, which broadcasts across the Pacific Islands.

Cavuilati’s lawyer told the court his client had lost his job at the airport during the COVID pandemic and there had been a series of illnesses and a death in his family which had impacted his behaviour prior to dealing drugs.

He also said his client first began taking cocaine himself after meeting someone at the gym who offered him the drug.

The agreed facts stated the Fiji-born Australian was spotted by police pulling up to a home in Bronte on January 22, before hopping out of his car and entering the house.

When he walked out of the house moments later with a white envelope in hand, police became suspicious of a drug deal.

They stopped him and found $600 in the envelope and a further $2100 in cash and 11 bags of cocaine inside his vehicle. The weight of the drugs was 7.5g.

He pleaded guilty at Waverley Local Court.

Remarkably, Cavuilati was caught selling cocaine again by police just a few months later.

The agreed facts said he was seen pulling up to a customer, in the same car used in the first incident, near Beach Rd Hotel at Bondi on April 10.

Police stopped his customer as he walked away from the vehicle and found five bags of cocaine.

Police also stopped Cavuilati and asked how he knew the man he had just spoken to.

“He’s just a mate,” Cavuilati answered.

After being questioned further by police, Cavuilati handed over the cash he had received from the drug deal, a wad equalling $2000 which was hidden in his undies.

Police found six bags of cocaine during a strip search which had also been safely kept in his underwear. The weight of the cocaine seized including from the customer was just over 8g.

Cavuilati pleaded guilty to two counts of supply prohibited drug at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday.

He will be sentenced next month.

The ABC was contacted but declined to comment “at this stage”.