Traffic stop nets a glass pipe allegedly containing ‘ice’

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man was arrested by Department of Public Safety officers on Sunday, May 7, 2023 for possession of methamphetamine (meth).

According to the court affidavit, on May 7, police headquarters contacted the Vice and Narcotics Unit concerning a possible drug case during a traffic stop.

The responding traffic officer says he observed Ioane Pasu’s vehicle had expired registration tags and stopped the vehicle. During the traffic stop, which was conducted near Iakina school adjacent to Iliili Public highway, officers asked Ioane to provide a driver’s license or photo identification, which he failed to do.

The officer states that when he informed the defendant that the vehicle was to be impounded, the defendant complied and in the process, the officer observed that on the driver seat was a glass pipe containing a crystalline crystal, slightly covered by a blue shirt.

Officers confronted Ioane about the discovery and he claimed that it did not belong to him.

A meth field test kit was used to test the crystalline substance and yielded positive test results for meth or ‘ice’.

Ioane was Mirandized and he declined to make a statement.

However, during the booking process, the defendant pleaded for a second chance and then confessed that the pipe found in the vehicle belonged to him.

He was then booked and transported to TCF. 

His initial appearance in court was yesterday, Wed., May 10.

He is facing one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, to wit amphetamine, a felony punishable by a term of imprisonment of no less than 5 or more than 10 years and a fine of not less than $5,000 and no more than $20,000.

Bail was set at $3,000.