Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A man accused of burglarizing a home in Nu’uuli at the beginning of this year has been arrested and is now in custody, with bail set at $15,000. He’s also facing charges of unlawful possession of illegal drugs when police found two small plastic baggies containing methamphetamine in his possession when he was arrested.

On Jan 26th, a man called police to report that his mother’s house in Nuuuli had been burglarized. He stated that several personal items were allegedly stolen during the burglary. When cops arrived, they observed a lot of items lying on the floor inside the living room and also several bedrooms had been ransacked and the back door was damaged.

According to the caller, on the night of Friday, Jan. 24th he visited his mother’s house in Nu’uuli to clean up the yard to make sure that everything was secure and safe. The man said everything was squared away during his visit. His mother is residing in Hawaii and no one was staying at the house.

He did not check the house on the following day, Saturday, Jan. 25th but went to his plantation. However, on Sunday evening, Jan 26th around 4p.m, he was shocked when he visited the house and realized that the back door was damaged and the house had been ransacked.

The man inspected the property and noticed that some of his mother’s belongings were on the ground in the back yard.

After speaking to the man, investigators then turned to neighbors in an effort to find witnesses. One week into the police investigation, a witness came forward and offered her help about the case.

According to the witness, she was outside of her house on Saturday night, Jan. 25th around 10:32p.m when she noticed a black pickup parked in front of the house next door (which is the house that was burglarized).

She stated that while she was talking to her boyfriend on the phone, she noticed two young men standing at the side of the pickup. She knew the person who owns the pickup, it was her brother’s friend by the name of “Talent”. According to investigators, Talent is another name for the defendant, Taleni Ifopo.

Investigators proceeded to Ifopo’s residence in an effort to locate him, however, he was nowhere to be found. His male cousin told police that he heard from his other cousins that Ifopo was involved in a burglary in Nu’uuli where a lot of personal items were stolen and exchanged for illegal drugs from Le Aute.

Police spoke to other witnesses who provided more information regarding Ifopo’s involvement in this case.

On Feb. 12th, 2020, a 45-year-old male, a former inmate at the TCF, contacted police and said he knew who burglarized the Nu’uuli home.

According to him, two men were involved and they gave him a new weedeater along with a tool box, which he turned over to police, who later returned it to the victim.

The witness told police that while sitting at a bus stop in the Tafuna area on the night of Jan. 10th, Ifopo asked him, if he wanted to buy a weedeater for $100. Ifopo, told the witness that he really needed money to send to his mother in Samoa.

The witness gave Ifopo $70 and Ifopo gave the witness a brand new weedeater that was inside his truck. The next morning, the witness contacted police and informed them about the weedeater.

Last month, investigators spoke to a known associate of Ifopo, and asked him to set up a meeting with Ifopo. The man was not to let Ifopo know that police would show up.

Ifopo agreed to meet with his associate, and several cops turned up and apprehended him. Ifopo was cuffed and placed in the police unit, but he attempted to flee by jumping through the open driver’s side window.

When questioned, Ifopo allegedly told police how he and another male entered the home and took items from the house — leaving some on the ground at the back of the house, while taking others.

He said his partner took some items but didn’t know what they were, adding that he returned some stuff to the victim and he was trying to figure out how to return the rest of the stolen items.

Before Ifopo was interviewed, a body search was done and police found two small baggies containing a white crystalline substance which tested positive for meth. When asked about the two baggies, Ifopo allegedly said he bought the two baggies from another man who is selling drugs in their neighborhood.

According to the government, an arrest warrant for the second defendant in this case is in process.

Ifopo made his initial appearance in court last month. He has been charged in two separate cases.

In the first case, he is charged with two counts of second degree burglary and two counts of stealing, both class C felonies, punishable by up to 7 years in jail, a $5,000 fine or, pursuant to A.S.C.A 46.2101, a fine equal to twice the amount of gain from the commission of said crime, up to a maximum of $20K, or both such fine and imprisonment,

In the second case, Ifopo is charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine, a felony, punishably by imprisonment from 5 to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000 or both.

During his initial appearance proceedings, Ifopo waived his rights to a preliminary examination (PX).

He entered a not guilty plea to all the charges against him when he appeared in High Court for arraignment three weeks ago. Pretrial conference is July 30th.