SAMOAN Prime Minister Laaulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt claims the country’s youth are being used by international drug rings who lure them with hefty pay checks.
His claim follows the arrest of two Samoans in Vietnam over the assassination of Australian underworld figure Lorenzo Lemalu Tovia on May 2.
Schmidt was quoted by the Samoa Observer as saying the headline-grabbing case had damaged the country’s reputation.
Samoa earns around $USD185 million annually from tourism and receives 130,000 visitors from mainly New Zealand and Australia.
Tovia and Sauni Sam – members of the Coconut Cartel – gunned down in a Ho Chi Minh City restaurant. Tovia died at the scene while Sam suffered serious injuries.
Joseph Vaa and Steve Tofa admitted to the shooting and are believed to have travelled from Samoa through Fiji to Vietnam on false passports.
Schmidt – speaking at a police graduation ceremony – 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,” the Samoa Observer reported.
“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.”
He warned police graduates not to succumb to corruption.
“Do what is right while it is your time, while you still have the opportunity,” he said.
Meanwhile, Samoan police have intensified investigations into businesses now suspected of laundering money for Australian-based cartels.
“It’s not an easy thing being lured into doing something horrible; to kill another human being, it’s 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.
