Nikolic family holed up in low-rent Lautoka Hotel as their family members face dire futures

THE distraught parents of Melbourne horse trainer John Nikolic are holed up in a low-rent hotel in downtown Lautoka as they contemplate the potentially dire futures of their family members.

EXCLUSIVE

THE distraught parents of Melbourne horse trainer John Nikolic are holed up in a low-rent hotel in downtown Lautoka, as they make their way between the prison their daughter-in-law Yvette is being held in and the hospital caring for their desperately sick son.

John Nikolic’s brother, well-known jockey Danny Nikolic, is also staying at the humble Lautoka Hotel, which is one of the lowest-budget accommodation options for tourists in the bustling Fiji town.

MORE: Lawyer alleges AFP tip off lead to John and Yvette Nikolic drug bust

MORE: Yvette Nikolic staring down possibility of life in prison

MORE: Nikolic fiji arrest ends romantic ‘adventure’

Most TripAdvisor reviews of the Lautoka Hotel rate it as ‘terrible’. Picture: Mark Stewart

Danny and his mother Karen were seen carrying plastic bags of fruit, vegetables and other groceries into the hotel, suggesting the family is preparing to stay in Lautoka for some time.

Charged with drug offences after the luxury yacht she was sailing the Pacific on was raided by Fiji authorities, Yvette Nikolic was taken into custody on June 21 and is due to face court in Lautoka this Wednesday.

And after glugging a potentially lethal cocktail of liquid cocaine and methamphetamine — either during or after the raid on Shenanigans — her husband John Nikolic Jnr is in Lautoka Hospital.

It is understood he remains in intensive care under police guard but his current condition is unknown as his family, the hospital, police and Fiji health and other government authorities have refused to publicly provide a condition update.

MORE: How John and Yvette Nikolic’s trip went wrong

MORE: Australian crew member sailing with Nikolics narrowly avoided arrest

Danny and his mother Karen were seen carrying plastic bagsof groceries into the hotel, suggesting the family is preparing to stay in Lautoka for some time. Picture: Mark Stewart

While patriarch John Nikolic Snr has not been sighted by News Corp at the Lautoka hotel, reception staff said the room had been booked under his name.

With Karen dressed in a long, flowing summer frock and Danny in shorts, a T-shirt and thongs, the mother and son duo looked like any other Australian tourists, trying to holiday in Fiji on the cheap.

Except, of course, they aren’t.

Both Karen and Danny looked stressed. Picture: Mark Stewart

And now John Jnr and Yvette’s holiday of a lifetime — sailing from Colombia and through the tropical Pacific Islands — has ended with John possibly fighting for his life in a rudimentary hospital and Yvette facing years in a Fiji prison.

While the very basic Lautoka Hotel has a small pool, John, Karen and Danny are unlikely to be sitting around it soaking up the Fiji sun or drinking cocktails, as they contemplate the potentially dire futures of their family members.

Both Karen and Danny looked stressed as they purposefully carried their bags of groceries across the busy road, to the hotel.

Most TripAdvisor reviews of the Lautoka Hotel rate it as ‘terrible’, with some reviewers commenting that rooms were smelly, “seriously grubby” and the service bad.

Some TripAdvisor reviews said rooms at the Lautoka Hotel were “seriously grubby”.
Picture: Mark Stewart

It is certainly a world away from the life of luxury John (Jnr) and Yvette were enjoying on the high seas in the weeks and months prior to the raid on their yacht.

It is known the pair employed a number of staff throughout their journey.

Fiji’s Revenue and Customs Service (FRCS) has alleged 13 bars of cocaine worth as much as $20 million (AUD), 65 ecstasy tablets and $20,000 (AUD) of undeclared cash were found on board Shenanigans when it was raided.

Two guns — a revolver and a Smith and Wesson — and 97 rounds of ammunition were also allegedly discovered on the yacht the pair purchased last year.

FRCS CEO, Visvanath Das said News Corp Fiji Customs had “assisted with intelligence information” in finding and seizing the drugs on the yacht.

“Through the profiling and targeting done by Customs Drug Enforcement Unit, it was determined that Customs needed to carry out a rummage of the yacht,” Mr Das said.

“The search was headed by FRCS …. we extended an invitation to the Fiji police force, Biosecurity Authority of Fiji and the Ministry of Health to join us on the rummage.”

John Nikolic and his wife Yvette were enjoying a life of luxury on the high seas before they were arrested. Picture: Facebook

But Fijian criminal and human rights lawyer Aman Ravindra-Singh told News Corp Australia on Friday his “sources on the inside” informed him Australian Federal Police had supplied intelligence to Fiji authorities about the Nikolics’ yacht.

“The Australian Federal Police was involved and provided the tip which lead to the raid and the subsequent arrest of the Australian couple on the yacht at Denarau,” Mr Ravindra-Singh said.

“In my experience Fijian police would not have had the intelligence … so obviously there would have had to have been overseas assistance which led to the subsequent raid and capture. I am absolutely certain of that.”