Napole Ta’ufo’ou (45) was fined for unlawful importation of restricted goods; namely a .22 rifle and 400 rounds of ammunition packed in a drum from New Zealand.

Hon. Mr Justice Cooper sentenced him on October 15 at the Supreme Court in Neiafu. The defendant pleaded guilty to the offences committed on September 9, 2019 in Neiafu.

The Crown said the defendant had gone to New Zealand for fruit picking and he packed a drum of goods, which included the .22 rifle and 400 rounds of .22 ammunition.

In addition, before the drum of goods was opened, he declared to Customs that he had the rifle and ammunition inside and stated that he had an importation licence.

Customs enquired with Police about the importation licence and found that the accused had applied for an importation licence in 2016 but it had since expired. Customs seized restricted goods and the Police were contacted.

“From the papers I have seen submitted by prosecution, I understand that in this case there was a licence for the importation of these goods but it had expired. This had been overlooked and that the defendant had declared the goods to Customs.”

He also entered timely guilty pleas and does not have any previous convictions.

The judge said that after taking into account all the circumstances of this case and from what he was told was a genuine error, where a licence had been obtained and his timely declaration to Customs, a fine of $200 pa’anga was imposed to be paid in two-months.