It is great that authorities have finally made a decision on the future of 400 cartons of Woodstock bourbon and 10 cartons of Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey.

The longer the silence of the authorities on the six pallets of alcohol illegally imported from American Samoa,  the more intriguing the story became, on who ordered the cargo and their alleged links to people in high places.

In fact any further delays by the relevant Ministry or agency, would have led to public perception that the alcohol cargo’s importer would be let off, despite his or her breaching of local customs laws. 

But that wasn’t to be as an article (Illegally imported alcohol to be auctioned) in the 11 December 2022 edition of the Sunday Samoan reported that the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Customs and Revenue, Tuala Iosefo Ponifasio, confirmed the illegal cargo will be sold through a public auction.

He said the revenue generated from the public auction of the illegally imported alcohol will be given to charity or "some other good purpose". 

"Yes we have made a decision [that] we are going to sell it, because it's here illegally," Tuala said. "There’s two aspects of that. 

"What we are going to do with the person that imported goods illegally and we will deal with that with normal legal process and what to do with goods is the other thing. 

"So we’ve decided to sell it and put the money towards charity or some other good purpose."

We commend the Acting Prime Minister and his Ministry of Customs and Revenue for taking that course of action – to organise for the 400 cartons of Woodstock bourbon and 10 cartons of Johnnie Walker Black Label whiskey to go under the hammer.

We agree too that the proceeds from the public auction are donated to charity, as Tuala indicated in response to questions from this newspaper.

But what guarantee is there that this practice of ordering goods from American Samoa without the proper permit will not be repeated?

Tuala has assured that the importer of the illegal cargo of alcohol will be prosecuted by the local authorities. We look forward to that happening so the message is sent out far and wide for rogue importers.

The linking of the illegal alcohol cargo to a current serving Member of Parliament also makes the case more intriguing. The fact that his name was allegedly on the consignment note doesn’t augur well for the leader, but he remains innocent until proven guilty, and the onus is now on the prosecution and the evidence it presents.

Going forward this matter puts the spotlight on the plans by the Government, through the Ministry of Customs and Revenue, to install an x-ray scanner at the Matautu wharf. The Cabinet in June this year approved the awarding of a USD$3.5 million (SAT$9.5 million) contract to the Chinese firm Neutech Limited for the procurement of a container cargo x-ray scanner.

The public is yet to get an update from the Ministry or the Government or the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for that matter on the multimillion tala project to secure Samoa’s national borders. Having the hightech equipment physically on site and on the ground at the Matautu wharf has the added benefit of deterring unscrupulous importers and businessmen or businesswomen.

Perhaps the Ministry of Customs and Revenue or the Government would want to give us an update on the installation of the multimillion tala container cargo x-ray scanner at Matautu wharf? Can we expect the machine to be installed in the New Year?

We appreciate the Ministry upgrading its systems and processes and its staff continuing to upskill themselves, which includes the addition of a new detector dog Euro and its handler  after undergoing 9-weeks training in New Zealand last month as part of a partnership between New Zealand Police, New Zealand Customs Service and Pacific border and police agencies.

But transnational crime organised outside Samoa’s borders is getting complex and the perfect deterrence is to stay ahead of the pack by being vigilant and continually upgrading our systems. A technology upgrade should be at the centre of these defence systems hence the need for the container cargo x-ray scanner.