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

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

According to the government’s case, two police officers patrolling in the Futiga area observed a vehicle coming from the Iliili road heading east at a high speed. The vehicle did not stop at the stop sign. Officers followed the vehicle and initiated a traffic stop.

Officers approached the driver of the vehicle and informed him of the reason for the stop. The driver of the vehicle was later identified as Fa’amati Ifopo, the defendant in this case. When asked for his driver’s license, Ifpo told police he had forgotten his driver’s license at home, and no other form of photo identification was presented.

Police then informed Ifopo that they were going to impound his vehicle because he didn’t have a driver’s license to operate the vehicle on a public highway. Furthermore, he was also being transported to the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) for further investigation.

Before Ifopo was transported to the TPS, 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 seat and the passenger’s seat. Inside the black pouch was a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance — that was later tested and the result was positive for methamphetamine.

After being Mirandized, Ifopo refused to make a statement to police.

Ifopo was arrested two weeks ago and made his initial appearance in District Court.

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

Bail is set at $5,000.

Preliminary hearing (PX) was set for this week.