A 28-year-old man and a 44-year-old woman from Matahau have been arrested for allegedly importation of over 1kg of methamphetamine from the United States, last month.

Police today alleged that the illicit drug was concealed in buckets of washing powder inside a shipment from California.

This was intercepted by a Customs Officer with the assistance of the Tonga Police Detector Dogs, during routine customs checks at one of the bonded warehouses, on 27 April.

The accused couple were reportedly in police custody to appear at the Magistrate's Court on 8 May. 

Tonga Police and the Ministry of Revenue and Customs stated their joint work continues to strengthen enforcement at Tonga’s borders. This aims at improving detection and disruption to the illegal smuggling of illicit drugs and other contrabands.