Lady Naomi crew member, Liki Kerisimasi, and another man, Fatu Vagana, have been charged in connection with the smuggling of marijuana into the territory last week Thursday.
Vagana and Kerisimasi were arraigned in High Court on Friday and each is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of marijuana.
Defendants are being held on bail of $50,000 each.
According to the government’s case, Vice and Narcotics were informed of alleged illegal activities going on at Vagana’s residence in Aoloau.
Commanding officer of Vice and Narcotics, Captain Paulo Leuma was informed by a Confidential Informant (CI) that he has known Vagana since 2008, as they work together.
The CI said Vagana would come to work with loose marijuana and hand rolled marijuana joints and during breaks Vagana allegedly sold marijuana to people at the work place.
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Court filings say that the CI rode in Vagana’s vehicle and saw marijuana inside his vehicle.
The CI further stated that he also went to Vagana’s residence where he saw marijuana, not only at his family residence but also at the shack located behind his house in Aoloau.
“The CI providing information was used several times in the past, and was found to be a credible and reliable source”, say court documents.
A search warrant was executed on Vagana and police began surveillance on him last week Thursday when the Lady Naomi arrived in Port.
It’s alleged Vagana drove around the town area while police followed him. Court filings say that he picked up Kerisimasi at the wharf when all passengers were through with clearance from Immigration and Customs.
According to the government’s case, police followed Vagana after he dropped off Kerisimasi at the wharf, while Vagana proceeded to the StarKist parking lot where the Vice and Narcotics approached the vehicle to execute the search warrant.
Police found in the vehicle three bundles, which tested positive for marijuana.
According to the government’s case, when police questioned Kerisimasi he said he came from Apia with the package to be delivered to “someone in American Samoa who would be calling him.”
Kerisimasi further told police he was suspicious that the package he had contained methamphetamine and that he became worried about it.
- Samoa News
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