Courts report more alleged drug violators after they were picked up for other reasons

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A driver of a vehicle pulled over by several police officers last month for violating traffic laws is now arrested and charged with violating local drug laws after police allegedly discovered drugs in his possession and in his vehicle.

Finau Pio, who is on probation for a drug conviction 3 years ago, made his initial appearance in Court two months ago.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth); one count of unlawful possession of marijuana, both unclassified felonies, punishable by a term of imprisonment of not less than five nor more than ten years and a fine of not less than $5,000 nor more than $20,000, or both; along with one count of resisting arrest, a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment for up to 5 years, a fine of $5,000, or both.

Bail is set $10,000.

THE CASE

On Jan. 28, 2022, four police officers who were patrolling on the Leone public highway observed a pickup truck turning right onto a family property without any signal. Officers immediately initiated a traffic stop.

Officers observed the driver exiting from the driver’s side and walking towards the passenger side of his vehicle. Officers approached the unknown male and observed him holding a black pouch.

One of the officers recognized the vehicle description and its license plate from a prior incident during the Christmas and New Year traffic enforcement.

A police officer then instructed the driver to hand over the black pouch but the driver refused to cooperate. He swung the black pouch in an effort to throw it outside but one of the officers caught the pouch.

Officers asked the driver for his driver’s license, but the driver refused to comply — refusing to provide a valid driver’s license or any form of identification document but only verbally stating that his name is “FINZ”.

Officers then informed the driver that his vehicle would be impounded and he was being detained at the police station for further investigation. The driver refused and told officers that he didn’t violated any traffic laws and he wanted to go home. After a confrontation with officers, the driver agreed to cooperate.

He was transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation, and his truck was impounded by officers.

During an interview with the driver, he was identified as Finau Pio, the defendant in this matter. Pio was informed of an outstanding bench warrant issued by the court for his arrest and was served the warrant.

Pio was patted down and officers discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance inside his underwear waistband.

Officers also discovered a medium sized baggie containing a a white substance in Pio’s front pocket. A police sergeant also instructed two other police officers to conduct an inventory of Pio’s impounded vehicle.

During the inventory of the vehicle in Pio’s presence, officers discovered a medium size baggie that contained a green leafy substance in the armrest between the driver and the front passenger seats. Information regarding Pio’s case was later transferred to the DPS Vice and Narcotics Unit for further investigation.

The white crystalline substance discovered in Pio’s possession tested positive for meth, while the green leafy substances tested positive for Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an active compound in the controlled substance marijuana.

Later on that day, Pio was Mirandized where he stated that he understood and did not want to sign the first portion of the form and would sign on the second portion (waiver) to a verbal statement regarding the incident.

According to Pio, he went to pick up his male friend from his house in Amanave to help him with his plantation when another man standing in front of a store in Leone stopped his vehicle and asked him if he wanted to buy some stuff from him. He asked the man what stuff he was referring to but he whispered to him, “I got meth and weed if you want.”

Pio told investigators that he bought meth and weed worth $50 from the man before he continued to pick up his friend.

BACKGROUND

In 2019, Pio was sentenced to five years imprisonment and a fine of $2,000 after he was convicted for unlawful possession of meth. He admits that on December of 2018 he had in his possession a stamp-sized baggie containing meth when police searched him. He was placed on probation for 5 years and ordered to serve a period of detention of 20 months in jail.

While waiting in jail for sentencing on his original conviction, as Pio was unable to post his bond, he was arrested again, while in jail, one month later, along with two other inmates for the alleged beating of another inmate at the TCF. Pio, along with the two co-defendants were each charged with one count of public peace disturbance (PPD).

ALEKI OPETA

A man was taken into custody last month after police picked him up for a public peace disturbance (PPD) matter in Petesa in the Tafuna area. During his arrest, cops discovered drugs in his possession.

Aleki Opeta, 31, who has a previous assault conviction from 2015, made his initial appearance in court last month.

Opeta is charged with second-degree assault and unlawful possession of marijuana, both felonies; and two misdemeanors — PPD and third-degree assault.

Bail is set at $5,000.

THE CASE

Cops responded to a public peace disturbance in Petesa, Tafuna, after a young woman contacted police for assistance, regarding an intoxicated man yelling profanities at her father. The man, who was later identified as Aleki Opeta, allegedly assaulted her father.

According to a witness, in trying to stop Opeta from striking the father again, one of the two men who were walking on the road at the time of the alleged incident, who jumped in and stopped the defendant from striking the victim again, was punched.

The defendant then jumped in his vehicle and tried to leave the scene. However, the two men, who had jumped in to help, grabbed the defendant and held on to him until the police officers arrived.

Opeta was apprehended outside of his truck and transported to the Tafuna Police Station (TPS) for questioning.

When interviewed, Opeta said that he assaulted the victim for blocking the road. He said it was the victim’s fault, and went on to describe an incident that had happened one hour prior to the current confrontation, where the victim’s vehicle had blocked his truck from leaving the parking lot of a store in Nuuuli when the victim parked behind him and went into the store. He said he waited for over an hour for the victim to come back out and remove his vehicle.

The defendant further stated that he and his cousin were driving when they spotted the same vehicle that had blocked their vehicle at the store blocking the other half of the road.

The defendant said he was in the passenger’s seat while his cousin was driving. He then exited their vehicle, walked over to the victim and yelled at him that he’s blocking the road before he punched him in the face. He also stated that the victim turned around and grabbed his neck and told him that he would kill him and his family if he bothered him again.

As he was making his way to his vehicle, Opeta told officers that two men walked over and tried to interfere, so the turned around and punched one man in the eye before both men grabbed his shirt and held him down to await the cops.

During his arrest, cops discovered a small stamp sized baggie inside his pants right pocket containing a green leafy substance.

When questioned about the green leafy substance found in his possession, Opeta told investigators that it was marijuana leaves he bought from another man for his own personal use.

FALE FIAILOA

A man who is on probation for stealing was arrested again by police on the allegation he violated local drug laws.

Fale Fiailoa was a passenger in a red pick-up truck that was pulled over by police two months ago in Iliili where two glass pipes containing white crystalline substance were found in his pants pocket.

The government claims that on the early morning of Jan.  20, 2022, two police officers patrolling the Iliili public highway observed a red pick-up truck with no light on the license plate and also with an expired tag.

Police officers pulled the vehicle over and found male individuals inside the vehicle, including Fiailoa, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

The driver of the vehicle, Laumatia Brown is the owner of the vehicle, who provided his valid immigration I.D and driver’s license to officers. The vehicle registration was valid until October 2020. Brown received 3 traffic citations from the officers.

While officers were speaking to the driver, the defendant, Fiailoa, opened the passenger’s door and exited the vehicle. He was instructed by one of the officers to stay inside the vehicle, but Fiailoa continued to walk to the back of the vehicle while at the same time trying to reach inside the rear left pocket of his pants.

As the other officer walked over to the area where Fiailoa was standing, Fiailoa immediately took off and ran to the other side of the road and continued fleeing from the officer. Officers, along with the help from the driver of the vehicle and another male passenger chased Fiailoa for few minutes before he was apprehended in front of a store in the Iliili area.

A body search was conducted on Fiailoa where officers discovered two glass pipes containing white crystalline substance inside. The white crystalline substance tested positive for meth.

Fiailoa told officers he got the two glass pipes containing meth from his friend for $50, and the reason he smoked meth is to give him strength while performing his work at his plantation.

The driver of the vehicle was also interviewed by police regarding Fiailoa’s presence inside his vehicle during the traffic stop. The driver told officers that he only knows Fiailoa from selling his taro and bananas around their neighborhood. He was on his way to pick up his brother-in-law from work when Fiailoa flagged down his vehicle and asked for a ride back home to Vailoa.

Fiailoa made his initial appearance in court. He’s charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth, a felony, punishable by term of imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, a fine not more than $20,000, or both.

Bail is set at $5,000.