American Samoa clamps down on medical drugs brought in

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Police in American Samoa say travellers arriving in the territory with large quantities of medication are facing extra scrutiny.

It follows the arrest in Samoa of a Vietnamese woman, carrying, what police say, were pills containing cocaine and heroin.

An Tran Thi was found with the pills while she was returning to the territory after a trip to her homeland.

She travelled via Singapore and Fiji and was arrested after she landed in Samoa on her way to Pago Pago.

The Director for Homeland Security Samana Semo Veavea told KHJ news there's a pattern of mainly Asian travellers bringing in bags of medication of a quantity clearly not for personal use.

"We start suspecting when they bring in a big quantity and it is not prescribed to them. Most of them are over-the-counter drugs so we all know what they are going to do. They are either going to be [used for] drugs or they are going to sell them."