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Drugs and paraphernalia found during raid of Vaitogi man’s home and vehicle

Just say no to marijuana symbol
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man from Vaitogi was taken into custody last Friday afternoon, after police executed a search warrant on his home and vehicle, where drugs and paraphernalia were allegedly discovered.

Uiluama’a Galea’i, a.k.a. “Ma’a” made his initial appearance before District Court Judge Pro Temp, Gwen Tauiliili-Langkilde yesterday morning. He is charged with one count of unlawful possession of marijuana. Assistant Attorney General Christy Dunn is prosecuting the case while private attorney Marcellus Talaimalo Uiagalelei is representing the defendant.

Bail is set at $5,000 and the preliminary examination is Friday, Sept. 27th

THE AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF A SEARCH WARRANT

The government claims that early this year, a Confidential Informant (C.I) provided information about a Samoan male who was selling meth and marijuana from his Vaitogi home. The CI identified the male to police as Ma’a, the defendant.

The CI claims to have known Ma’a for a long time, and said Ma’a had approached him and asked if he could be his runner in the drug game. The CI said he told Ma’a to give him some time to think about it.

According to the government, the C.I. told police that there have been numerous times when he’s witnessed Ma’a selling methamphetamine and marijuana to people out of his home in Vaitogi.

According to the C.I., Ma’a would sell meth in small stamp-sized baggies for $50 and $100. The C.I. further told police that if customers are unable to make it to Ma’a’s home to make their purchases, Ma’a would deliver the drugs personally to the customer using his red F-150 truck.

Last month, the C.I. agreed to be part of a controlled buy. The C.I. contacted Ma’a in the presence of police, and told Ma’a that he wanted to buy drugs from him. Ma’a agreed and arranged a location to meet up with the C.I.

Detectives waited in a nearby area where they could see the C.I. buying drugs from Ma’a. The C.I. met up with Ma’a at Ma’a’s residence in Vaitogi. And after speaking with the C.I. outside of his home, Ma’a walked into his house and a male, who was identified in the affidavit — however, Samoa News has chosen not to publish his name due to no info being available on whether this male’s home or person was searched or if he was arrested — came out and gave a small baggie containing meth to the C.I. and in return, the C.I. gave the male $50, which was provided by DPS detectives for the buy.

Following the controlled buy, the C.I. contacted police to have him picked up on the road. The contents of the baggie tested positive as meth. According to the government, this C.I. is known to detectives because he provides reliable and trustworthy information.

Investigators believed they had enough to prove that unlawful possession of  drugs and unlawful possession with the intent to distribute were committed and therefore, sought a search warrant for Ma’a’s home, his red truck, as well as for Ma’a and the male, who came out of Ma’a’s house and gave the baggie of meth to the C.I.

THE SEARCH

Last Friday, Sept. 13th, at around 1:50p.m, armed DPS detectives executed a search warrant on Galea’i’s red F-150 truck when he was pulled over by police in front of the DBAS building in Pago Pago.

Afterwards, Galea’i was placed under temporary detainment for his safety, and also for the safety of the officers. His vehicle was also impounded at the DPS Tafuna substation, driven by a senior detective with Galea’i in the passenger seat.

Galea’i was transported to his home in Vaitogi and a search of his home immediately commenced, as prescribed by the signed search warrant.

Green leafy substances that later tested positive as marijuana were found at his home. Also found were a clear glass pipe commonly used to smoke marijuana and a small plastic grinder. A large amount of cash was also found on Galea’i who was later transported to the Tafuna Substation that same day to resume the search of his vehicle, wherein police found in the arm rest, a clear container with a green leafy substance, and a small box of rolling papers.

A marijuana roach was also found in the vehicle’s passenger door.

When asked regarding the drugs and paraphernalia allegedly discovered at his home and in his vehicle, Galea’i remained silent and refused to make a statement.