Ads by Google Ads by Google

Questions about delay in charges in meth case still unanswered

American Samoa District Court building
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man allegedly found with two glass pipes containing methamphetamine inside his vehicle when police pulled him over for a traffic violation almost two years ago has finally been arrested and charged.

The question of why the government waited so long to charge Allen Asomau in this case is still unanswered.

According to the government’s case, on Sept. 15, 2018 cops observed a vehicle heading westbound at a high speed and the driver was not wearing his seatbelt. A traffic stop in front of an Asian store in Tafuna was made by police.

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

Before Asomau was transported to the TPS because of no ID, police conducted a body search and nothing was found. The search then moved to the vehicle where police discovered a black pouch between the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Inside the black pouch were two glass pipes containing white powder.

The white powder was later tested and the result was positive for methamphetamine.

Asomau refused to make a statement to police regarding the glass pipes containing methamphetamine.

He made his initial appearance in District Court where he was charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony.

Bail is set at $5,000.

Asomau is scheduled to appear in court next month after he entered a not guilty plea to the charge against him when he appeared in High Court for arraignment two weeks ago.