Man, 35, jailed 22 months for 258g cannabis in Fo'ui
Matangi Fetu’u’aho, 35, was sentenced to 22 months' imprisonment for possessing 257.86 grams of cannabis. Tonga police had found him packing cannabis at a residence in Fo'ui in December 2020.
The full article is paywalled behind a subscription notice, so only the free lede was available; further details such as the court, plea, cultivation evidence and any co-accused were not accessible.
2 June 2021 is the article's publication/report date and is used as the incident date; the sentencing itself may have occurred on or shortly before that date.
The headline calls the defendant a cannabis cultivator while the accessible text reports possession; cultivation is not otherwise detailed in the opened text.
Only one accessible source for this event was found after searching for the defendant's name.
Acting Justice Langi sentenced Folauhola Palanite, 40, to 21 months in prison, with the final six months suspended, and gave his wife Mele, 36, a 15-month term fully suspended for two years at the Supreme Court in Nuku'alofa on 22 October 2026. The couple had admitted possessing 40.07 grams and 3.89 grams of cannabis, along with drug utensils.
Viliami Taulafo, 34, was given a fully suspended 18-month prison term at Tonga's Supreme Court for possessing 200.98 grams of cannabis found at his Talafo'ou home. Police seized the cannabis in a February raid, and the court suspended the custodial term for two years with probation, a drug programme and community service.
Tonga's Supreme Court sentenced Mekiloni Fotu Aso to 18 months in prison, with the final six suspended, after police found 63 cannabis plants and 266 grams of cannabis at his Fua'amotu home in July 2025. He pleaded guilty to cultivation, possession and utensils charges; the court ruled he was a supplier.
Kilisitina Finau, 34, was sentenced to two years in prison in Nuku'alofa on charges including possession of 484.43 grams of cannabis. Her 23-year-old co-offender Lesieli Makasini was found guilty of possessing a smaller amount and received a suspended sentence.