John and Yvette Nikolic on trial: How drugs were found on yacht by Australian-bred Labrador called Eto

The extraordinary nose and smarts of an Australian-bred Labrador called Eto led Fiji customs authorities to the drugs hidden on the Nikolics’ yacht Shenanigans.

The extraordinary nose and smarts of an Australian-bred Labrador called Eto led Fiji customs authorities to the drugs hidden on the Nikolics’ yacht Shenanigans.

The top drug-detector dog, which News Corp has learned was bred in Australia and trained in New Zealand, sat down near a vent coming from the lazarette locker under the yacht’s deck, in which the court has been told 13 bars of cocaine were stashed.

Giving evidence in front of prosecutor Yogesh Prasad this week in the Suva High Court trial of accused Aussie drug smugglers Yvette and John Nikolic, Eto’s handler Amit Ram said the three-year-old golden Lab had been trained to sit when he detected the smell of narcotics.

Eto also sat down at other places on the yacht, including in cabins, a washroom and the saloon, the court heard. Drugs were later uncovered in or near some - but not all - of the locations where Eto sat.

Both Yvette and John have pleaded not guilty to drug importation, drug possession and weapons charges.

MORE: Why John Nikolic ‘couldn’t see a way out’

MORE: Details of overdose attempt revealed in Nikolic’ drug trial

MORE: Nikolics’ alleged drug stash revealed in court

The dog unit that found the drugs. Second from left Mr. Amit Ram of Fiji Revenue and Custom Services with “Eto” the Golden Labrador. Picture: The Fiji Times

The court heard Eto had been taken off his leash to do the “dog run” of Shenanigans after a preliminary sweep of the boat had been conducted.

After Eto had done his work, he was placed back in the van and Mr Ram, a highly trained officer with the Border Enforcement unit of the Fiji Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS), joined the search without his dog.

“We knew there was something on the yacht so we kept going,” Mr Ram said.

Two bags of cocaine containing several bars brought into court as evidence on day two of trial of Yvette and John Nikolic in Suva, Fiji, continued. Picture: News Corp Australia

The revelation it was an Aussie dog which sniffed out the drugs on the Nikolics’ yacht was part of a dramatic week of evidence before the court in Fiji’s capital.

On Thursday another senior FRCS officer, Fenton Williams, said a “distraught” John Nikolic said during the June 22 raid on Shenanigans he owed “some dangerous people a lot of money that he couldn’t possibly pay back and this was his only way out”.

John Nikolic being escorted by a police officer after day five of their hearing at the Suva High Court. Picture: Varanisese Bolatagane/ News Corp Australia

The former Melbourne racehorse trainer allegedly took sole responsibility for the bars of cocaine found on the yacht at the time of the raid and told customs officers he wanted to be the one to tell his wife Yvette “what happened…what had transpired, of what he’d done”, as she and other crew members knew nothing about the drugs.

John Nikolic also allegedly volunteered to customs officers where they would find a further three bars of cocaine in the lazarette locker, after they had uncovered 10 cocaine bars in a blue bag, the court was told by a number of prosecution witnesses.

John and Yvette Nikolic arrive at the High Court trial in Suva, Fiji. Picture Gary Ramage

The court has heard it was not long after that alleged admission – and after being escorted to a toilet on the yacht by Mr Fenton, where it has been previously alleged he took a deliberate drug overdose – that Mr Nikolic collapsed next to Yvette.

More drugs, weapons and US$15,000 in $100 notes were found in a search after Mr Nikolic had been taken to hospital.

In his opening address lead prosecutor Lee Burney said the prosecution intended to show that while the former Melbourne horse trainer and his wife were presenting to the outside world a charade that they were “living the dream, embarking on an adventure of a lifetime” by sailing from Florida to Colombia, through Panama and across the Pacific, they were, in reality “secretly involved in the wicked, international drugs trade”.

Yvette Nikolic arriving at the Suva Court House for their third trial hearing. Picture: Varanisese Bolatagane/ News Corp Australia

On Friday customs investigator Vasiti Toga said Mr Nikolic had told his wife, in an emotional conversation she overheard in the wheelhouse, a Colombian had hidden something in a bag and then said, “I owe a lot of money (and) these people are very dangerous and this is the only way to pay them. I will be gone for some time, please look after our babies”.

Giving evidence for the prosecution Ms Toga said Yvette Nikolic was crying and the couple hugged.

Ms Nikolic then asked her husband “why did you do this?”

The trial before Judge Daniel Goundar continues Monday.