Tupou and ‘Amelia Tafuna were found guilty on joint counts of possessing 3.82 grams of methamphetamine and 22.6 grams of cannabis, seized in a police raid at a residence selling illicit drugs in Sopu, Nuku'alofa.

Lord Chief Justice Whitten QC convicted the husband and wife on September 2, at the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court.

In addition to the joint counts of possession, the wife 'Amelia was also found guilty of obstructing a police officer, when she was performing her duty.

Vehicles with dark tinted windows

The Prosecution called police witnesses. The Court heard on October 15, 2020, a Senior Constable Tu'ivai of the drugs enforcement task force received information from one of his informants that one, Tupou Tafuna was selling cannabis and methamphetamine from his residence in Sopu and that a number of vehicles, all with dark tinted windows, were coming and going from that residence.

This information was passed onto Senior Constable Fihaki, who considered Tupou had been a long time suspect of drug offending and the subject of a number of previous searches. 'Amelia was also known to police. 


Senior Constable Fihaki decided to raid the accused's property without a search warrant and assembled a team of more than 10 officers from the Drugs Enforcement Task Force, Tactical Response Group and the Dog Detector Unit.

Around 6:00pm, the team were at the defendants’ residence and the officers from the Drugs Enforcement Task Force entered the property. They found both of the accused sitting at the back of the house on the patio.

Constable Afu gave evidence that she was instructed by the officer in charge to search 'Amelia, who obstructed the arrest.

Several items seized were identified by a police sniffer dog inside a wall in a bedroom and in a hole on the ceiling space. This included, a pill bottle which turned out to have 30 packs of methamphetamine inside, the cannabis, $1550 in cash, which included 24 x $50 notes, test tubes 
and weighing scales. The same items were recorded in the police exhibits register. 

The white powder and leaf material were later analysed and confirmed to be methamphetamine and cannabis and of the weights specified in the indictment. The analyst’s certificate in respect of the methamphetamine, using the TruNarc spectrometry analyser, was tendered as prima facie evidence pursuant to s 36 of the Act. 

The defendants did not raise any objection to that scientific evidence.

The Chief Justice, after having considered all the admissible evidence abduced in the trial, and based on the assessment of that evidence, he concluded that the only plausible explanation for the presence of the drugs in the wall and ceiling cavity, and of which he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, was that the defendants both had knowledge of the drugs and control over them because they put them there.

He was also fortified in that view because the defendants had lived in the house for approximately 10 years and there was no evidence of anyone else having access to the wall cavity.

“This is in addition to the shortcomings and unreliability revealed by Tupou’s statement to the court and ‘Amelia’s sworn evidence all reflected a consciousness of guilt and a forlorn attempt to distance themselves from ownership of the drugs,” he said.

"The prosecution has proven the three counts beyond reasonable doubt and I therefore find the defendants guilty on all counts."

The convicted couple will be sentenced on October 12.