Seven jailed in Vava'u for growing 2,665 cannabis plants in Holonga
Tonga's Supreme Court in Vava'u sentenced seven men, four of them teenagers, to between three years and four years and six months in prison for growing 2,665 cannabis plants hidden in a kava plantation at Holonga. All pleaded guilty to the 2018 cultivation, and parts of each sentence were suspended.
🇹🇴 Holonga, Vava'u, Tonga
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Seven men, four of them teenagers, were sentenced to prison by the Supreme Court
in Vava’u for charges that included jointly cultivating 2,665 cannabis plants.[1]The plants were found at a tax allotment in Holonga, Vava’u, and weighed
99.6 kilograms, according to Matangi Tonga.[1]
Kaniva Tonga named the seven defendants as Tonga Wolfgramm, Afei Tau’akitangata
Tatafu, Sulitomu’a Muna, Cullen Pongi, Heuati Toke, Misinale Lavemai and ‘Amini
Topui.[2]The court heard that the cannabis was hidden inside a kava
plantation the defendants tended as a church group of growers, and that sales
brought in 600 pa’anga a day.[2]Police went to the allotment in September
2018 on a tip and found Sulitomu’a Muna, who fled carrying a .22 rifle and
dropped it near a house.[2]
All the defendants admitted the offending and pleaded guilty, and Lord Chief
Justice Whitten said the case fell within large-scale growing for commercial
purposes.[2]
Tonga Wolfgramm was sentenced to four years and six months for growing cannabis,
with the final 18 months suspended for two years.[2]Sulitomu’a Muna received
three years for cultivation plus one year for an unlicensed firearm, with the
final two years suspended.[2]Cullen Pongi, Heuati Toke, Misinale Lavemai and
‘Amini Topui were each sentenced to three years for growing cannabis, with the
final two years or 18 months of their terms suspended.[2]Afei Tau’akitangata
Tatafu was sentenced to three years and six months for growing cannabis, with
the final 15 months suspended for two years.[2]
Kaniva Tongakanivatonga.co.nzVava’u Supreme Court sends seven to jail for cannabis hidden in “church group” kava plantation
Open questions the AI reported
The Supreme Court sentencing remarks were published as a PDF that could not be read here, so the sentence details rely on Kaniva Tonga's account.
Matangi Tonga gives the plant weight as 99.6 kilograms; Kaniva Tonga gives 99.65 kilograms. The report uses 99.65 kilograms and keeps the 99.6 figure in the text.
Kaniva Tonga's article is dated 19 October 2020 and Matangi Tonga's 20 October 2020; neither gives the exact date the sentences were handed down, so 20 October 2020 is used as the publication date of the sentencing report.
No street value of the cannabis was established; the judge noted no attempt had been made to work it out and said the defendants' submissions gave some indication of the operation's size.
The reports give the ages of some defendants but not all; Matangi Tonga counts four teenagers among the seven.
The submitted Matangi Tonga page shows only its lead sentence behind a subscription notice; the remaining detail comes from Kaniva Tonga.
The tracker's 2018 report places the plantation at Mataika, Vava'u, while these accounts place the tax allotment at Holonga; the relationship between the two locations was not established.
Left out, as its quotation was not found in Kaniva Tonga: A search of the house found plastic bags of cannabis leaves and seeds weighing 22.57 grams, and 26 rounds of .22 ammunition.
Left out arrested, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out charged, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out convicted, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out kg seized, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out plants destroyed, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out prison, as no supporting quotation was given.
Left out sentenced, as no supporting quotation was given.
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.