Apia, SAMOA — Samoa police have confirmed that an internal leak of a search warrant led to a failed drug raid in late December, allowing suspects to clear out of the premises before police arrived. As a result, two senior police officers have been suspended pending investigations into their alleged involvement.

Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Polataivao Schmidt, who also serves as Minister of Police, condemned the breach, describing it as “unacceptable behavior that endangers the lives of our officers and betrays the trust placed in the police force.”

The Prime Minister confirmed that the leak was internal and announced that the names of the officers will be formally disclosed at next week’s press conference.

He added that he will direct the police to name and shame the police officers on social media, as is being done with drug suspects.

According to Schmidt, mobile phones seized during recent raids contained a copy of the warrant he had personally signed. Investigators traced the transmission of the document back to a police officer, raising serious concerns about internal security and integrity within the force.

The leak directly compromised the operation, resulting in an unsuccessful raid as several suspects managed to flee before police arrived.

Prime Minister Laauli, who is also Minister of Police, has declared that police officers implicated in leaking warrants and alerting suspects “have no place in the service.” He stressed that such actions betray the trust placed in the police force and place the lives of fellow officers in grave danger.

Local sources have confirmed that Inspector Nanai Vani Vai, former bodyguard to Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, has been identified as one of the suspended police officers now under investigation in connection with the leaked warrant.

This was further confirmed by his wife, Lilomaiava Maima Misa, a local journalist who posted on her Facebook page that her husband had been "suspended from the Ministry of Police due to allegations of leaking a search warrant to the drug dealers."

She added that they cannot say anything about the matter at the moment, but he accepts his suspension while investigations are conducted by the Professional Standards Unit.

Inspector Nanai has been on the Samoa police force for 32 years and currently serves as the Second in Command of the Tactical Operations Squad (TOS), a unit entrusted with high-level enforcement responsibilities. His suspension emphasizes the seriousness of the allegations and the Government’s determination to root out misconduct within the police force.

The Prime Minister emphasized that Samoa’s current drug crisis should have been addressed a decade ago. “Little to nothing was done,” he said, allowing the illegal drug trade to take root, expand supply chains, and entangle government officials, police officers, and even women in village communities.

He questioned the role of previous governments, Ministers of Police, and Police Commissioners in failing to confront the problem, leaving his administration to tackle its entrenched consequences.

The Government is now in the fourth month of its yearlong “Say No to Illegal Drugs” campaign, a nationwide initiative to eradicate narcotics from Samoa. The Prime Minister underscored that sending those involved — including police officers who leaked information — to prison sends a clear message of zero tolerance for such behavior.

Community support has been pivotal. Several villages have stepped forward to assist police by providing intelligence, as demonstrated in the recent raid at Salelologa, where more than ten individuals, including women, were taken into custody and now await court appearances.

Church ministers are also contributing to the campaign, reinforcing its moral and social dimensions by speaking against illegal drugs in their regular sermons.