The Vice and Narcotics Division of the Department of Public Safety is handling the investigation of the box filled with cash that was found on a locally based fishing boat which made an almost overnight trip to Apia earlier this week.
Both the captain of the vessel and the businessman who owns the vessel, a long-liner called Lady Ann, initially disavowed any knowledge of how the box of cash got on the boat or who it belongs to.
Our sources say that the box of cash had mainly $100 notes and it’s quite likely that the amount exceeds $100,000.
The maximum amount of cash that a person can bring into the territory is $10,000. Any amount over that must be declared, which KHJ News understands was not done.
The long-liner had gone to Samoa apparently to bring an engineer who works on fishing boats in Apia that the businessman owns.
On Wednesday when the boat returned to port, Customs agents boarded it and carried out a routine inspection; that’s when the box of cash was discovered.
Police took the captain and owner of the Lady Ann in for questioning that day.
The vessel’s owner operates a warehouse in Tafuna and owns at least two stores. A warehouse in Pago Pago and two stores which he owned burned down several years ago.
