By Linny Folau
Penisoni Tu’ifua Angilau (37) was found guilty of four charges that included supplying 534.53 grams of methamphetamine to his second cousin to pack the illicit drug at her residence in Lomaiviti in March last year.
Lord Chief Justice Bishop convicted him on other charges of supplying 520.5 grams of methamphetamine (which the police said was equivalent to cash seized in his vehicle), threatening a Police Officer and money laundering (where a Ford Ranger was obtained using the proceeds of a crime) on 14 July, after a trial at the Supreme Court in Nuku’alofa.
The court heard from the evidence that on 4 March 2024, the defendant went to the residence of 'Iunita Motuliki at Lomaiviti in a white pickup or van and left numerous packs of methamphetamine, which were later counted by the woman and her friend.
The methamphetamine received was in a rock solid state. 'Iunita then used a hammer to break it down and relying on her expertise at packaging methamphetamine she then divided and packed the crystals using a visual estimation with no weighing tools.
Prosecution witness
Her property was raided later that same day and apart from a large number of men who appeared to be playing pool in a shed at the back of the property itself, methamphetamine was found, later tested and found to contain 534.53 grams of methamphetamine. Among those who were arrested was 'Iunita.
The Lord Chief Justice noted, “She was later charged with serious offences in relation to the methamphetamine but was given immunity in consideration of giving evidence in this trial. This meant that she is an accomplice and although the corroboration requirement for accomplices has been abrogated here in Tonga as in England and Wales, it is only fair to approach her evidence with caution because obviously, she has a direct personal interest in assisting the Prosecution because, I infer, her immunity depends upon her giving evidence implicating the defendant.”
$90,125 cash
He stated that on the next day, the police were informed that this defendant Angilau was subject to an arrest warrant for not appearing before the court on a different matter and then at 3:00pm on the 5 March, 2024, his vehicle was seen near the old survey office by Chief Inspector Vi and he was then subsequently arrested in the vehicle by Sargent Leveni.
In the front passenger seat was a large amount of money $73,010 pa’anga in one black plastic bag and a second bag found glove box of the front passenger seat was a further black plastic bag containing $17,115. The total amount seized from the defendant’s vehicle was $90,125. The defendant was arrested and remanded into custody.
Those comprised counts one and two of the indictment. Count two being the methamphetamine bought and apprehended at the residence of Iunita on 4 March 2024 and count one being the product of an estimated 520.5 grams of methamphetamine, which the police calculated from the total amount of cash seized in his vehicle plus the value of the vehicle multiplied by the amount of grams in each pack, then divided by the cost of one pack of methamphetamine.
“Count three occurred on 14 May 2024 when a young police officer 21 years old with only four to five months experience in the Police Force was sent to the prison where the defendant was, to accompany him to take his fingerprints and conduct some legal work.
“The defendant reacted in an aggressive way and said “I will get up and beat you to death." I am quite satisfied that he intimidated and unsettled the young Police Officer, after all he was 21 years old and was still getting acquainted with police work,” the Chief Justice stated.
“In regards to count four, police were anxious to investigate the defendant’s finances, he had a Ford Ranger worth $40,000 but where did he get it from? He did not work, he did not have any business interests and had not declared any income in the recent years according to the relevant authorities.
“I was asked to infer that the vehicle in question valued at $40,000 had been obtained using the proceeds of illicit drug activities. The defendant claimed it was purchased by means of a loan with the assistance of his sister, but no documents have been produced nor has his sister been called to give evidence to this.
“The Police also interrogated the phones of these three persons who had been charged on methamphetamine related offences, and the defendant was identified in all three accounts by an icon of a monkey which he habitually used on messenger and the name of the messenger account, “Tuifua Angilau". Among the messages from and to the defendant were requests for the supply of ice which is a colloquialism from methamphetamine,” he stated.
“Taking all these matters together I am asked to conclude that the defendant was the person who turned up at Iunita’s house on 4 March 2024 and brought a package containing a large amount of methamphetamine which was then packaged by Iunita then counted by both Iunita and her friend who was there because she was pregnant and had arranged for her expected child to be handed over to Iunita to be customarily adopted as is the practice here in Tonga.”
The Lord Chief Justice said he was also asked to infer that Iunita gave the defendant a large sum of money she had been collecting from earlier methamphetamine transactions on 4 March 2024 when he paid a visit.
She told me with surprising insouciance that she had been dealing with the defendant since about 2020 and this was part of the proceeds arising from those transactions. It started small but grew over time and that the drugs had been brought to the residence by the defendant.
Guilty
Sgt Tu’amelie Fifita was the first to give evidence. He supervised this operation at Iunita’s residence where he produced all the exhibits for the prosecution’s case including a diary of action and a search list which set out the results of the search on the residence, mainly the black plastic container bag inside a green bag where 18 packs of methamphetamine was subsequently found and later weighed to be 534.53 grams.
The Police in their investigation wanted to find out how the defendant could have obtained this large amount of money lawfully and they made inquiries. Exhibit 8 was the response from all the local banks which confirmed that the defendant did not have a bank account with them.
Further, in Exhibit 10 it confirmed that there was no documentary evidence to support any business or trade or rather any source of a legitimate income registered under the defendant’s name.
“The Police therefore concluded and asked me to infer, considering the selling rate of four grams for $1000 revealed by one of the persons in contact with the defendant on messenger. There appeared to be no reply to the messages on 14 March and on 19 March, and he inferred was because the defendant by then was in custody,” he added.
“I am quite satisfied to the criminal standard that these messages disclose that this defendant was the source of methamphetamine and was supplying it to his customers.”
The Lord Chief Justice next heard from Iunita who told the court that she is the defendant’s second cousin and had been involved with him with drugs dealing since about 2020 beginning with an ounce at a time and then inevitably increasing. She said the modus operandi was that the defendant would give her ice which she would divide into smaller packets and sell.
“On 4 March 2024, she gave him a large sum of money, at the same time, he gave her a bag containing what she said to be cannabis which does not form part of the current indictment and methamphetamine in a green bag. The defendant handed her a bag which contained methamphetamine and as I have referred to earlier, the methamphetamine came in a rock-solid form which she then broke down with a hammer and packaged using her own visual estimation and experience.
“While, the sum of money she gave the defendant was the proceeds of previous drugs dealings which amounted to $70,000. But, in fairness to him, he may have meant to say that he only has a Ford Ranger and that way he could not have shown up in a Toyota Hilux,” he stated.
It was also put to her by the defendant that in her statement she had alleged that there were 17 packets of methamphetamine not 18. The Lord Chief Justice did not hold that these slight discrepancies in any way impact on the credibility of this witness bearing in mind the caution with which he approached her evidence with.
"I am satisfied to the criminal standard that this witness was telling me the truth. Further, an important witness for the prosecution was Soana Sakopo. She was staying at Iunita’s house quite regularly because as I indicated earlier, she was pregnant and was expecting to hand over her unborn child to ‘Iunita.
“She told me that she counted 18 packets containing methamphetamine, she however had left the residence before the arrival of the police and therefore avoided the fate which befell her husband and others present when the police turned up on the property."
“On the other hand, the defendant gave evidence on oath claiming that at the time of the visit on 4 March 2024, he could not have been at the residence because he was away on a picnic on a bush allotment with friends as it was a public holiday. In that respect he was incorrect it was not a public holiday.
“He also claimed that the money in the car was legitimately obtained. He farmed a number of tax allotments, he hired men on construction work, has a pig farm and occasionally sold clothes at the side of the road but no documents in support of these assertions have been produced.
“Having closely observed all witnesses but in particular Iunita and Soana during the course of this trial to determine whether I could be sure that what they were telling me in all relevant respects was true. Of course, I bear in mind that demeanor can often be misleading and that a convincing witness may also be a lying one, but both struck me as truthful. Iunita to the extent of without prompting admitting her own involvement in what happened since 2020, although without such evidence she could not have been implicated of involvement in that time frame.
“Soana, of course was never part of the Prosecution’s case and although I must treat her own involvement which makes her an accomplice with some caution, nevertheless I am quite satisfied to the criminal standard that she was telling me the truth and that she played a role in counting the packets of drugs.”
The Lord Chief Justice then ruled after taking all these matters together and applying a holistic approach that he was satisfied and was sure beyond a reasonable doubt that the case against this defendant had been made out on all four counts.
He is expected to be sentenced on 5 September.
