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Samoa police are investigating stowaway incident

Faleolo Intl Airport
reporters@samoanews.com

Apia, SAMOA — Samoa police are puzzled as to how a Samoan woman in her 20s managed to pass through immigration and airport security get on a Fiji Airways aircraft, hide in the lavatory, and make her way to Fiji.

This happened on Christmas weekend.

The woman was caught sleeping in the lavatory by flight attendants when the plane arrived in Fiji.

She was trying to board a flight to Australia without any legal documents, claiming she was an Australian citizen, said Samoa Police Commissioner Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo.

“This was flagged by our Police Outpost in Faleolo after a complaint was lodged by a senior manager of Samoa Airways, in regards to a female was found trying to board a flight to Australia.

However she didn’t have any travel document to enter the country

“The woman was adamant she’s an Australian citizen however the Fiji authorities contacted Australia’s immigration and uncovered she’s not a citizen.

According to the commissioner, preliminary investigations indicated that the woman left her home as she wanted to go overseas.

“She's tired of staying home and looking after her nieces and nephews. In her statement to the police she said she’s not allowed to go anywhere [and required] to stay at home and help out looking after her brother’s children.

“The brother is in Australia for seasonal work and his wife left the kids.”

He said that several international laws were violated by the actions of this woman and that criminal charges are highly likely, but that will be determined once the investigation is complete.

The woman has been banned by Fiji Airways worldwide from any of its flights as a result.