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Postal Service employee charged with unlawful possession of ‘ice’

joyetter@samoanews.com

Cheyenne Lafaele a former United States Postal Service (Federal) Employee, has been criminally charged by the Attorney General’s Office with unlawful possession of controlled substance of methamphetamine, a felony that is punishable between five and 10 years in jail and or a fine between $5,000 to $10,000. Lafaele who’s bail was set at $5,000 made her initial appearance in the District Court on Friday.

According to the government’s case, the matter was reported to the police on January 10, 2017 following routine inspection by the Customs on all the parcels that come into the USPS. The government’s case claims that police met with Customs officers where one informed the police that a routine inspection by the K9 dug detector “Critter” alerted near a package address to Chevonne Lafaele, and after the inspection the Customs officers left to get coffee.

They returned not long after and noticed that the package was missing from where it was and then a Custom Supervisor was informed of the situation.

The police also met with the Postmaster who told the police that she was informed by a USPS employee that a drug bust was about to happen at the Post Office. The postmaster further stated that she was also informed by the Customs Supervisor that Lafaele allegedly removed the package from where it was and left it where USPS employees leave their belongings. It’s alleged that the Postmaster then approached Lafaele and reminded her to clear the package with Customs before she leaves with it. During the inspection, Customs discovered four separate plastic packages that were concealed within a speaker unit.

The government’s case further claims that Lafaele said she did not have knowledge about the concealed bags and the package was from a friend “Lisa Lafaele” who, she had met on social media.

During the time that the substance was tested, two baggies revealed positive results for methamphetamine, while the other two tested positive with an active chemical in marijuana and each bag weighed one pound each. 

As reported earlier by Samoa News, Lafaele has resigned from her job and it’s been confirmed by Postmaster Tao Suani who said, “The US Postal Service and I are cooperating with, and supporting the investigation by law enforcement agencies. The safety and security of the mail, our employees, and our customers, is of utmost importance to me and the US Postal Service.”

The postal worker in question was hired as a PSE or Postal Support Employee in 2011.