Tonga police arrest 10 and seize 96 cannabis packets at Malapo allotment
Police searched a bush allotment in Malapo, eastern Tongatapu, on 22 September 2018 and arrested seven men and three women, seizing 96 packets of cannabis and cash. The Mu'a district commander said all ten were in custody while the investigation continued, and no charges or court date were published.
Ninety-six packets of cannabis and cash were seized when police arrested 10
people in Malapo, eastern Tongatapu, on Saturday 22 September 2018.[1]
Police executed a search warrant at a bush allotment in Malapo on 22 September
2018 and arrested 10 people there.[2]The ten arrested were seven men and
three women, Superintendent Sisi Toutai Tonga, the Mu’a District Commander,
said.[3]All the suspects were held in police custody while the investigation
continued.[2]
The superintendent said police were committed to disrupting and detecting the
supply of drugs to prevent the harm the illegal activity causes.[3]Police
said they rely on the public to pass on information about drug cultivation,
manufacture or dealing, or information can be given anonymously by calling 23417
or 25147.[3]Police said it takes only one call to stop crime and the
availability of drugs in a community.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Tonga Police arrested a 43-year-old man and a 16-year-old boy after tracing reported cannabis distribution near a school to a home in Ha'ateiho. Officers seized three cannabis plants weighing 2,300 grams, four rounds of ammunition and drug utensils, and both suspects were charged with possession of illicit drugs.
Arrested 2Charged 2Plants destroyed 3Cannabis 2.3 kg
In two raids on a bush allotment at Hauloto on 2 and 6 January 2025, Tonga Police arrested six people. In the first they seized 21 packs of cannabis weighing 8.17 g and five packs of methamphetamine; in the second, two packs of cannabis weighing 1.54 g and 27 packs of methamphetamine.
Tonga Police arrested and charged two men with possessing cannabis and a utensil during a routine road-stop on 6 June 2022. The announcement came three days later in a brief police notice published by Matangi Tonga, which released no weight, place or court details.
Tonga Police and soldiers arrested four people at a COVID-19 lockdown checkpoint in Poutaha, Tofoa, on 30 March 2020. Officers seized a total of 639.68 grams of cannabis in the vehicle stop and a follow-up house search.