Aua villagers and others react to Monday’s armed drug bust

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The drug bust in the village of Aua early Monday morning raised a lot of mixed emotions from members of the community especially families from Aua.

Some were not happy saying cops are only tracking down the users and the pushers and not those responsible for bringing the drugs into the territory. On the other hand, many were very happy and praised the men and women in blue for the hard work and their efforts to bust people who are dealing in illegal drugs.

A retired officer who served on the line for almost 20 years praised the work by police. He said drugs are a very serious problem in American Samoa and cops need to be active and work together to track down those who are bringing drugs into the territory and prosecute them.

“Our families and young children are all effected by this drug problem and we need to start tracking down those involved and put them behind bars.”

Four people from Aua also shared their views about the police raid this week.

A mother of 6 who lives close to the area where the home was raided said she’s so grateful that cops finally raided this house and arrested those who are involved in selling drugs.

According to the woman, her husband and older son are victims in this drug problem in the village. She said her husband is addicted to meth after a man from this house gave him a glass pipe containing meth to smoke during a Christmas party last year.

“Ever since that Christmas party, my husband is still smoking weed and meth and I’m so grateful that the owner of the house, along with the men who are selling drugs in our village are no longer getting the chance to continue their illegal business,” the mother said.

Another village member, a 53-year-old father of 4 shared the same thoughts. He said that whoever reported this illegal business to police is a warrior.

The man recalled a phone call he made to the Central Police Station at the beginning of this year when he found an empty glass pipe, commonly used to smoke meth at the back of his house. He suspected the empty glass pipe belonged to his son-in-law, despite the fact his son-in-law strongly denied it when he confronted him.

The man said when he called the police station for help, two cops came to his house and confiscated the glass pipe. During the conversation with the two cops, he gave all information he had regarding this house and the suspicious activities he and his family were witnessing everyday.

He said he witnessed lots of people and vehicles coming in and going out from this house-compound — almost everyday and night.

Another member of the community also praised the work by DPS police officers for bringing those involved with drugs to justice.

She said she wanted to see more drug busts like the one in Aua this week in the future, and DPS must conduct more drug busts in known areas where drugs are distributed, such as the areas called, Le Aute, Le Filifili, and also other suspected areas in Vaitogi, Futiga and other places in the territory.

“Cops also need to check on top government officials because they are the ones that are allegedly involved in transporting drugs into the territory.”

She recalled the news she heard about drugs found in a vehicle, which was shipped into the territory under the Speaker of the House’s name.  She also recalled a huge quantity of white crystalline substance found in the LBJ Hospital mail.

“That’s why I said cops also need to take a close look at some of the top government officials because they are the ones that are allegedly involved in bringing the drugs into the territory.”

One man said, cops need to go after the main supplier, not the pushers and the users. He believes that if the main suppliers continue to be on the loose, more drugs will be distributed around the island.

“Arrest the main supplier and the drug problem will halt,” he said.

An angry Aua villager who wished not to be named said the action by these people brought embarrassment to the village. According to the villager, these people are not from Aua.

He said the matter is now before the Aua Village Council and a meeting will be called sometime next month to discuss this matter after the bestowal of the Tufaga title this weekend.

“Whoever did this embarrassed our village and will face the consequences of their actions,” said the angry villager.

A woman probably in her 50s confronted the Samoa News reporter yesterday morning outside of the Samoa News office in Fagatogo and said that all five people arrested by police during the raid are not from Aua.

“Correct your information and get your facts straight,” she yelled at the reporter.

“These people are not from Aua, they’re from Upolu and Savaii and they’ve made my village look bad in the eyes of the world. You should check their birth certificates first to confirm their place of birth before you print your article,” said the woman in a loud voice.

BACKGROUND

Five people — including a former police officer — were arrested and taken into police custody after a huge quantity of methamphetamine (meth) and drug paraphernalia was discovered when armed detectives raided a compound in Aua early Monday morning.

Over ten armed police detectives of the DPS Vice and Narcotic Units executed a search warrant signed by the Court to search a home in Aua.

All four people mentioned in the search warrant were arrested and transported to the police station for further investigation. A fifth person, who was not named in the search warrant, but was in the compound during the time of the raid, was also arrested and taken into custody for questioning.

The government is expected to file charges against the suspects later on this week and the names and charges will be released at that time, according to a senior police official.

(Samoa News should point out that while there is a lot of local talk about the drug ‘users & sellers’ being from Samoa, there are no official statistics confirming this, and as such should be considered “unsubstantiated” information — or a rumor.)