Allegedly kidnapped Sydney businessman Sam Amine cleared on drugs charges in Fiji

Sam Amine, 46, can now return to Australia after charges he possessed an illicit substance on a trip to the holiday island in 2019 were dropped.

A Sydney businessman who made headlines after allegedly being kidnapped from his Sans Souci home in 2021 has been cleared of drugs charges in Fiji.

Sam Amine, 46, can now return to Australia after charges he possessed an illicit substance on a trip to the holiday island in 2019 were dropped.

Amine had spent the past six weeks stuck on the island after his passport was confiscated and a magistrate ordered he not depart Fiji until the charges of possessing 451.6 grams in anabolic steroids were finalised.

The accusations came after a 2019 trip to the country but it was on his return to Fiji on May 30 he was arrested.

Police had alleged the drugs were hidden in a power box at the a Nadi home, but the businessman – who owns several gyms in Fiji – had the charges withdrawn in Nadi Magistrates Court this week.

Sam Amine smiles and gives a thumbs up as he poses next to his lawyer after being cleared of drugs charges in the Nadi Magistrates Court in Fiji. Picture: Supplied

Amine was allegedly kidnapped from his Sans Souci home in June 2021.

The Fiji Times reports Amine’s lawyer Iqbal Khan submitted his Australian client had no knowledge of the drugs and that other people also resided at the home, leading the state prosecutor to withdraw the charges.

Magistrate Nirosha Kannangara acquitted Amine and revoked the stop departure order previously made.

In the aftermath of his acquittal, the smiling Australian gave a thumbs up as he posed for a photo with his lawyer Iqbal Khan.

Amine had last made headlines in June 2021 when four men allegedly broke into his home, dragged him into a stolen BMW and drove him to an empty house in Padstow, where he was assaulted.

He was eventually able to break free, climb out a window and make a run for safety.

Three men have so far been charged over the alleged kidnapping of the businessman last year and remain before NSW courts.