Samoan PM Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt
Photo: Supplied / Samoa Government
Samoa’s Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt claims the country’s youth are being “used” by international drug rings who are luring them with hefty pay checks.
This is the first time the Prime Minister has spoken out following shocking revelations ten days ago that two alleged hitmen from Apia murdered a Sydney gang boss in Vietnam.
Laauli, who is also the Police Minister, said at a recent police academy graduation that the high profile international case had damaged Samoa’s reputation, according to the Samoa Observer.
Joseph Vaa, 27, has confessed on Vietnamese television to gunning down suspected “Coconut Cartel” leader Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia in Ho Chi Minh City on 21 May.
Steve Tofa, 23, also known as Tafia, has admitted being his accomplice.
Tovia died at the scene while his associate Sauni Sam, 27, was believed to still be in intensive care in hospital with serious injuries.
Joseph Vaa, 27, admitted gunning down “Coconut Cartel” ringleader Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia outside a restaurant on 21 May. Vaa’s associate, Steve Tofa, 23, has confessed to being his accomplice in the shooting.
Photo: Screengrab / 7NEWS Sydney
Laauli said the incident had damaged Samoa’s “good name” as well as those of families and villages.
“It’s heartbreaking for the children and young people of our country, who are being used because of large amounts of money,” he said.
“Because now the whole world is hearing about this, because of carelessness, because of lack of thoughtfulness, because of failure to protect the names of families, the names of villages, the names of parents, and above all, the good name of our government and nation,” Laauli said.
Laauli used the occasion to warn the police graduates not to succumb to corruption.
“Take care of yourselves. Do what is right while it is your time, while you still have the opportunity,” he said.
Sydney cartel kingpin arrested
Sydney’s Coconut Cartel reportedly broke away and declared war on the rival Alameddine gang earlier this year. Tovia was believed to be a key figure in the Sydney operation.
The New South Wales police arrested the Sydney kingpin of the global drug syndicate on Wednesday and seized more than 400kgs of methamphetamine in a massive organised crime-related operation.
Detectives arrested Henry Kupa, the cartel’ s alleged leader in the city, as well as eight others associates police believe helped the group import large quantities of illicit drugs into the country.
The police alleged Kupa was coordinating operations on behalf of the international cartel , under the direction of fugitive gang leader Anthony Pele.
Samoan police freeze bank accounts
In Samoa, the police immobilised the bank accounts of Va’a and Tofa on Wednesday and four others, as their investigations into the case widen.
The police suspect Unalei Car Rentals, a luxury car rental service that opened in Vailoa four months ago, was invoved in suspected money laundering activities for the cartel.
Samoa’s former police minister, Faualo Harry Schuster, told Pacific Waves he believed the duo were “pawns” in a much bigger game.
” (They were) definitely manipulated into doing something that they’re not familiar with and naive enough to think that they could pull it off,”said Fauali, who was police minister until the General Election in Samoa last August.
Faualo, who has returned to practising law, said the two had clean criminal records and he believed they were “lured” by the money and danger of working for a “big time” gang.
“It’s not an easy thing being lured into doing something horrible, to kill another human being, its totally unlike us. The sheer thought of two local boys, raised over here, steeped in our own Samoa culture, we’re still mulling over it, how it came about,” Faualo said.
He alleged that Vaa and Tofa had both worked at Unalei Car Rentals which only opened four months ago.
They were caught in a foreign country they knew nothing about, with no support, he said.
“Whatever process they (Vietnam) have, I pray that it’ll be a fair trial for these boys,” he said
The former police minister said the case highlighted the need for Pacific countries to work in close cooperation to detect organised crime networks already preying on island countries.
In Samoa last week the office of the Ombudsman’s and the National Human Rights Institution also called for a fair trial for the men.
