Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — The District Court has set bail of $3,000 for recent drug defendant, Gubernatorial Paulo. He made his initial appearance in court last week.

According to the criminal complaint on August 04, 2022 Vice and Narcotics Division of the Department of Public Safety was dispatched to an incident at the Tafuna Police Substation where police officers discovered drugs upon encountering the defendant.

The defendant is facing one count of unlawful possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine (meth), a felony carrying a jail term between five to 10 years, and/ or a fine up to $5,000.

Police said they were patrolling near Iliili when a vehicle heading east approached them with high beam lights and they pulled it over in front a local store. The driver was approached, and cops discovered that he was the only occupant in the vehicle.

 “Upon conversing with driver, officers revealed that the driver did not possess his driver’s license or any form of identification when asked.”

The defendant was then instructed to exit the vehicle and informed that the vehicle would be impounded at the station, however during a pat down search officers discovered a white straw containing crystalline substances inside his left pocket with a glass pipe underneath his belt.

The items were immediately seized by officers at the scene and the driver was detained with his vehicle impounded at the TPS for further investigation.

According to court documents, items discovered were tested using a field kit and yielded a positive result for meth.