Man under surveillance as Person of Interest for drugs — arrested at traffic stop

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man who has been under police surveillance for quite some time is finally in custody after police allegedly discovered drugs in his possession during a traffic stop last month.

According to the government, Pele Finau has been considered by police as a Person of Interest (POI) for many months, under the suspicion that he’s involved in the drug business. His vehicle was always seen at a house of another person who is also considered by police as a POI.

The government alleges that on Apr. 30th, 2020, patrolling police officers in the Nu’uuli area conducted a traffic stop on a red pickup truck for a traffic violation. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Pele Finau, the defendant in this matter. Finau, along with his wife and children were inside the vehicle when police pulled it over.

According to the government, the traffic was busy on that day and Finau’s vehicle was easily observed with additional lights on the front by officers patrolling the area as their normal routine. The numerous additional lights, included an Emergency light added to the front side of the vehicle.

Officers approached the driver of the vehicle and informed Finau for the reason of the stop and asked him for his driver’s license. He gave police his driver’s license, which had expired two years ago.

While traffic officers were speaking to Finau, the DPS Vice and Narcotics/K9 Unit arrived at the scene. K9 Caino conducted a search around the vehicle for illegal drugs. According to the government, investigators requested Finau for his consent to search his vehicle after K9 Caino showed interest in the driver’s side of the vehicle.

Finau denied police’s request and told them that he will not give them permission to search his vehicle. Police then informed Finau that due to the fact he does not have a valid driver’s license and his vehicle contained additional lights, they will impound his vehicle and he has to be transported to the Tafuna Substation (TS) for further investigation.

Finau’s was handcuff and he was placed inside the police unit and transported to the TS, where police attempted to remove the handcuffs from Finau. However, while police were removing the handcuffs from Finau, the officer observed that Finau was holding something in his hand; and when he opened his hand, police observed two cut-up straws containing white crystalline substance.

The white crystalline substance was tested and the results turned out positive for methamphetamine.

Police conducted a body search on Finau and nothing was found. An inventory search was conducted on the vehicle and again, nothing was found.

When asked about the two cut-up straws containing methamphetamine, Finau admitted to police that they belonged to him.

Finau made his initial appearance in District Court last week. He was represented by Assistant Public Defender Bob Stuart, while prosecuting the case is Assistant Attorney General Laura Garvey.

Finau is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, an unclassified felony, punishable by a term of imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, a fine up to $20,000, or both.

Bail is set at $5,000.

It was during Finau’s initial appearance that his defense attorney asked the court for a preliminary examination (PX).

PX

The government called their only witness during the PX last week. He was Det. Levi Tafaovale, who is also the lead investigator in this case. He’s a police officer of over nine years — with 3 years in the DPS Vice and Narcotics Unit.

Det. Tafaovale told the court that a group of detectives were following Finau’s vehicle before the traffic stop, because they consider him as a “person of interest”.

According to the detective, after Finau’s vehicle was pulled over, a police unit with detectives from the Vice and Narcotics/K9 Units arrived on the scene about one minute later.

The government witness also revealed during his testimony that prior to the traffic stop, he, along with other detectives were following Finau’s red pick-up truck and noticed that Finau’s vehicle was heading to the house of another individual suspected of selling drugs.

During cross examination, defense attorney Stuart asked the witness why he and other police detectives were following his client’s vehicle around before the traffic stop. The witness said that several months ago, the Vice and Narcotics Unit received information from a reliable source telling them that Finau is involved in selling drugs, using his red truck.

Stuart asked the witness again if the traffic stop was something that police planned to see if his client had drugs in his possession. The witness said, no, the traffic stop was initiated after patrolling officers allegedly discovered a traffic violation by Finau, which is, “having additional lights” on his vehicle.

“Did you follow my client’s vehicle during that day before the traffic stop,” Stuart asked the witness.

The witness responded by saying that they did follow Finau’s vehicle on that day before the traffic stop, because they observed his red truck heading up to the house of another person who is also a “person of interest” to police for selling drugs.

Stuart asked the witness if he knows who the registered owner is of the red truck his client was driving on the day of the alleged incident. The witness said he does not know who the owner of the vehicle is.

Stuart then asked the witness to explain to the court how he found the two cut-up straws on his client when they arrived at the TS. The witness stated that it was after he removed the handcuffs from the defendant’s hands, he noticed that the defendant’s right hand was still closed. When the defendant opened his hand, he saw that the defendant was holding in his hand two cut-up straws containing methamphetamine.

After hearing all the evidence of the case, Judge Elvis P. Patea bound the case over to the High Court for further proceedings.

Finau entered a not guilty plea to the single charge against him when he appeared in High Court last week. His first pretrial conference is scheduled in July of this year.