Apia, Samoa \u2013 30 January 2025<\/strong> – A 76-year-old businessman of Lotopa is among three people now under police custody charged over the smuggling of 10kg of crystal meth intercepted at the Apia port last night.<\/p>\nPolice Commissioner Auapaau Logoitino Filipo confirmed that this is the largest quantity of the drug confiscated at Apia Port so far.<\/p>\n
He said the drugs were wrapped and hidden inside various food items in the container and was similar to how previous drugs were smuggled also caught at the port.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe container originated from the United States and we are currently investigating if its destination was Samoa or was transhipped through Samoa to another destination,\u201d said Auapaau.<\/p>\n
Based on the information from the accused, the police followed up on some of the locations the accused revealed but when the police arrived, they found the place empty.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to follow other leads for the local locations of any drugs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
All three are currently in custody to appear in Court on 11 February.<\/p>\n
Samoa main destination of drugs found in American Samoa<\/strong>
\nAuapaau also confirmed that Samoa was the main destination of a 10kg parcel of crystal meth intercepted by the American Samoa authorities last month.<\/p>\nAmerican Samoa notified the Samoa authorities that a 10kg parcel was sent through air mail from Hawaii destined for Samoa.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe requested the American Samoa authorities that in the future, to allow such parcels to continue on to Samoa so we can identify and find out who the recipients were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said despite the increase of drugs issues in Samoa, they have not found any evidence to prove that methamphetamine is being produced in Samoa.<\/p>\n
Negotiation for another K9 dog<\/strong>
\nThe Police K9 Unit has had a major contribution to the discovery of narcotics being smuggled into the country. However, only one dog is assisting the Customs and border officials in their campaign against drugs.<\/p>\n\u201cWe are negotiating with New Zealand for another K9 dog,\u201d said Auapaau. While the single canine can only cover either the main port of entry in Apia or the Faleolo international airport, it leaves various other ports open and without the service of a police dog.<\/p>\n
Last night\u2019s successful drug bust was the collective work between Customs, Police and K9 Unit.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lagi Keresoma\/ Apia, Samoa \u2013 30 January 2025 – A 76-year-old businessman of Lotopa is among three people now under police custody charged over the smuggling of 10kg of crystal meth intercepted at the Apia port last night. Police Commissioner Auapaau Logoitino Filipo confirmed that this is the largest quantity of the drug confiscated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":33163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[188],"tags":[4734,4736,1381,4735,59],"class_list":["post-33197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-order","tag-3-charged-in-crystal-meth-bust","tag-76-yar-old-businessman-of-lotopa","tag-apia-port","tag-destined-for-samoa","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n
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