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Nobody seems to know why the govt waited so long to make arrest in 2 year old meth case

Meth pipe on mirror.
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A 42-year-old man allegedly found with a glass pipe containing methamphetamine (meth) in his vehicle when police pulled him over for a traffic violation almost two years ago was recently arrested and charged.

The question as to why the government waited so long to charge Falaula Amosa in this case is still unanswered.

According to the government’s case, two traffic police officers patrolling the Tafuna area on June 21, 2019 observed a vehicle speeding. Officers followed the vehicle and made a traffic stop in front of American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) headquarters in Tafuna.

The driver of the vehicle, who was later identified as Falaula Amosa, the defendant in this case,  when asked for his driver’s license, told police he had forgotten his driver’s license at home, and had no other form of photo identification on him.

Amosa was then informed that his vehicle would be impounded to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) due to his not having an ID, and he would also be transported to TPS for further investigation.

Prior to being transported to the TPS, Amosa was searched and nothing was found. However, a search of his vehicle yielded a black pouch between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s seat. Inside the black pouch a glass pipe containing white crystalline substance was found. The substance was later tested and the result was positive for meth.

After being Mirandized, Amosa refused to make a statement.

Amosa was finally arrested by police last month and made his initial appearance in District Court.

He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of meth, a felony.

Bail is set at $5,000.

THE PX

It was during the preliminary examination (PX) that the government called their only witness to the stand, who was also the lead investigator in this case.

In cross examination the defense attorney asked about the timeline for the testing for the white substance contained inside the glass pipe. The witness stated to the court that the test was conducted after Amosa was released from the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF) where he had been held for 48 hours.