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Two people in rental vehicle charged with violating local drug laws

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Gun, drugs and ammo found
ausage@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Two people were arrested and charged after cops allegedly discovered drugs and paraphernalia inside a rental vehicle. The two are Thomas Aloese, the driver and Felix Tonumaipe’a, the passenger.

Aloese and Tonumaipe’a are each charged with one count of unlawful possession of methamphetamine (meth), a felony, while Tonumaipe’a is also charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unlicensed firearm and one count of unlawful possession of ammunition, both class A  misdemeanors.

Aloese’s bail is set at $5,000, while Tonumaipe’a’s is at $10,000.

THE CASE

On Feb. 16, 2022, the DPS Vice and Narcotics Unit (VNU) was contacted about a matter where patrol officers at the Tafuna Police Substation (TPS) discovered paraphernalia inside a rental vehicle, which was then impounded to the TPS.

Two detectives of the VNU were dispatched to the reported matter and later got the chance to review the evidence and interview the patrol officers who first encountered the vehicle involved.

According to the officers’ statement to investigators, they were conducting their routine inspection when they came upon a rental vehicle parked without headlamps at the Lions Park area in Tafuna. Officers stated that as they got closer they could see two males inside, at the front of the vehicle, who appeared to be talking.

The driver was later identified as Thomas Aloese, the co-defendant in this matter, and the male passenger was Felix Tonumaipe’a, the co-defendant in this matter.

One officer approached the driver and knocked on the window but the door was locked and the driver appeared to be nervous and then threw an item backward. At the same time the male passenger had already exited the vehicle with a black backpack around his neck and chatted with officers.

The officer who approached the driver’s door instructed the driver to unlock the door and exit the vehicle immediately. As the driver exited the vehicle, the officer observed a glass pipe commonly used to smoke meth on the passenger seat. Both the driver and the male passenger were then detained and later transported to the TPS for further investigation.

Investigators also interviewed the other two police officers who were at the scene at the time when the paraphernalia discovered, and they corroborated the first officers’ statement regarding what happened.

At the TPS, a search of the vehicle was conducted by other police officers where they discovered another glass pipe inside the overhead compartment containing a usable amount of meth.

Both the driver and the male passenger were interviewed by investigators in separate rooms.

Aloese was Mirandized and he signed the form indicating that he understood what his rights. However, he wished to to remain silent.

Tonumaipe’a was interviewed by investigators where he was Mirandized and also wished to remain silent.

During the booking process, when asked about the black backpack he was carrying, he informed officers that it was not his. When asked of any valuable items inside, Tonumaipe’a stated there was a glass pipe used to smoke meth and two baggies containing meth.

Officer searched the bag and discovered a glass pipe containing a white crystalline substance, along with 3 small stamp-sized baggies all containing a white crystalline substance.

Tonumaipe’a informed officers that the drugs belonged to both him and Aloese. He explained that they had just returned from Vaitogi where they bought drugs from a friend and they were hanging out at the park before heading home, when officers came over and searched them.

Aloese and Tonumaipe’a were booked and confined at the Territorial Correctional Facility (TCF).