A Fijian national caught with methamphetamine while entering the Faleolo Regional Airport has been sentenced to six months in jail. 

The imprisonment for Rupeni Luvu was handed down by Supreme Court Judge Justice Leiataualesa Daryl Clarke on Thursday this week. 

Luvu, 55-years-old, of Fiji and American Samoa, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of 0.59 grams of methamphetamine and one count of possession of utensils. 

He was represented by lawyer Pose Toma. 

According to the summary of facts, on 20 March 2025, at approximately 10 am, the accused arrived at the Faleolo Regional Terminal from American Samoa on a Talofa Airways flight. 

He was transiting to fly to his final destination of New Zealand later that afternoon. At the terminal, customs x-rayed his luggage and became suspicious due to the presence of an object resembling a glass pipe. 

The court heard that Customs officers inspected the luggage and found a small black bag with a zip-lock bag containing crystalline substances later identified as methamphetamine weighing 0.59 grams. 

Also inside was a clear glass pipe, commonly used to consume methamphetamine. 

In his pre-sentence report, the defendant spoke about his social use of methamphetamine with his friends, something he said he only began using in recent months. 

Justice Clarke told the defendant that he could not have been under any misunderstanding of the dangers of meth use. 

"It is highly addictive, can cause serious harm physically and mentally and can be fatal," he added. 

"You could also not have been under any misunderstanding about the potential consequences for you of bringing methamphetamine across the international border into Samoa - but you did so anyway." 

The court adopted 18 months as the starting point for the sentence and deducted time for the defendant being genuine and remorseful. 

Luvu was later sentenced to six months and upon returning to American Samoa he has been urged to undergo programs to change his life and break free from meth.