‘Aisea Pese Havea, 42, is serving one year and eight months in prison for cultivating cannabis plants seized at a home in Ha’ateiho.[1] He pleaded guilty to cultivating three cannabis plants weighing 2,300 grams, possessing 2.11 grams of cannabis, and possessing a homemade bong.[2] He was also found with four .22 calibre bullets without a firearms licence.[2] He was serving a six-month suspended sentence from a prior case when he was arrested.[3]
Police received a report in February that Tonga College student Salesi Fangaake was found with cannabis leaves.[2] The student admitted picking the leaves from a taro plantation behind his home in Ha’ateiho on neighbour Joe Masima’s allotment.[2] The Drugs Squad then went to Masima’s residence, where he and his wife were present.[2] Police searched the backyard taro plantation and found Havea lying on a bed in a makeshift shelter beside three cannabis plants.[3] Questioned about the plants, Havea admitted they were his marijuana.[2] Officers also recovered a homemade bong, 2.11 grams of cannabis and four .22 calibre bullets.[3]
Presiding judge Petunia Tupou KC said the defendant was not young and had breached the conditions of a suspended sentence.[2] Havea was convicted and sentenced to one year and eight months in prison.[2] The probation officer recommended he attend the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Course with the Salvation Army as part of his sentence.[2]