Three men were arrested when Samoan police raided marijuana plantations in the mountains of Satapuala and Faleatiu on Tuesday 1 December 2020.[1] Police Commissioner Fuiavaili’ili Egon Keil led the operation, which followed a search warrant and complaints that narcotics were being sold in the area.[1] Officers spent the morning searching four marijuana farms, and by about 2pm seven cars had brought the plants, up to six feet tall, back to police headquarters.[1] The operation involved 14 cars and about 60 frontline officers, and police were armed because of past shootings in the area, though no shot was fired.[1]

Police said they found nobody at the makeshift shacks on the mountain, which drones filmed during the raid.[1] Samoa Police Service later said officers located approximately 4,000 marijuana plants and made three arrests after entering Satapuala and Faleatiu at about 4am.[2] Samoa Global News put the plants’ street value at more than 4 million tala, about ST$1,000 a plant.[3] The commissioner said the haul was smaller than the more than 10,000 plants taken in the previous November’s raid in the same hills.[1] No weapons were confiscated and no one was injured in the raid.[1] Police did not release the names of the three arrested men.[1]

Keil thanked the village councils, the Alii ma Faipule, of Satapuala and Faleatiu for allowing the operation and helping police throughout the year.[1] The commissioner said police wanted to clear the marijuana farms before the Christmas sales.[1] Samoa Police Service said the raid followed information from members of the public about marijuana being cultivated in the Satapuala and Faleatiu areas of Upolu.[2] The previous November’s raid, described as Samoa’s largest drug bust, had also netted firearms, methamphetamine, ammunition and cash.[1]