Three men appeared this Tuesday for trafficking 700 grams of ice, ingested in the form of 78 capsules by a mule of Guyanese origin who had travelled from France. The case is out of the ordinary: the supplier, Brazilian, is a major cocaine trafficker in mainland France, where he was under police surveillance. And the convoying was orchestrated by a Polynesian incarcerated in the United States, in contact with two local dealers. The three defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from three to five years.
Negille Jona, 21 years old, of Guyanese origin but living in mainland France, has been incarcerated for nearly a year at Nuutania. More precisely since December 9, 2025, the date on which he was arrested on leaving Tahiti-Faa’a airport with, “in corpore,” 78 capsules of ice, i.e., 700 grams, valued at around 70 million francs. The two people who received him, Darius Faara and Tauirai Tetopata, two small-time dealers from Papara, were also arrested at the same time.
It all began 18,000 kilometers from Tahiti, in Tours. While returning from a nightclub, Negille Jona crashed into a pole with a friend’s car. The latter demanded payment for repairs and pressured him. But he did not have any money. Father of three and without a steady job, he survives by cooking meals in his kitchen, which he then sells. He confides in his cousin, who puts him in touch with a Brazilian national in Paris. A certain Ferrara. They meet at a McDonald’s in the capital. Ferrara offers him 8,000 euros (nearly a million francs) to ingest capsules containing “a product that has a lot of value in Tahiti,” Ferrara said.
What they don’t realize is that they are under surveillance. Apparently, Ferrara is a major figure in cocaine trafficking, as he has been the subject of particular monitoring by the police for some time. He is currently in provisional detention and under investigation by the Nanterre prosecutor’s office. On the day of departure for Tahiti, they meet at the airport and go together to a pharmacy where Negille Jona purchases an anti-diarrheal to slow his intestinal transit. The journey is long and it would be problematic if he emptied the capsules in the airplane’s toilets. In the meantime, police had warned their Polynesian colleagues of the mule’s imminent arrival. Upon leaving the airport, he is arrested, accompanied by Darius Faara and Tauirai Tetopata, who were waiting for him with a sign bearing his name.
Un trafic orchestré depuis une cellule aux USA
How could Polynesians be in contact with a Brazilian national known in mainland France for involvement in drug trafficking, particularly cocaine? It was while questioning Darius Faara that part of the answer emerged. Questioned by the judge, Darius explained that he was in touch with a certain Terupe Tehahe, incarcerated in the United States as part of a drug trafficking operation, who, from behind his cell, had organized everything. Indeed, in his smartphone, investigators found numerous conversations via WhatsApp and other apps, where Terupe Tehahe indicated the mule’s name and arrival date, and that there was “a huge pot of money to be shared between the two.”
Darius Faara, a small-time dealer from Papara, who readily acknowledges the facts, explains that after receiving the mule, he and Tauirai Tetopata, another small dealer, were to take her to a house they had rented in Papara. There, they would wait for the mule to expel the capsules so they could quickly put them up for sale on the market. As for Negille Jona, he was to board the plane again with about ten million, i.e., a portion of the money from the resale.
“He handles the distribution of this deadly product, this poison that none of them consume.”
For the prosecutor, this case is particularly noteworthy because one is more used to ice import dossiers from the United States, and, unless mistaken, “this is the first time metropolitan actors are involved in this kind of case.” For the public prosecutor, this is proof of “the interest of the big metropolitan traffickers in Polynesia.” Without discounting this hypothesis, one can also think that, in the minds of local traffickers, a metropolitan arriving from France has a better chance of slipping through Tahiti’s customs than a Polynesian returning from Los Angeles. Hence this possible new route to be exploited.
Regarding the main players in this trafficking, the prosecutor notes that Negille Jona’s story, who has no prior convictions, “doesn’t make sense” and calls for six years’ imprisonment for him. For Darius Faara, “in contact with Terupe Tehahe who handles the distribution of this deadly product, this poison that none of them consume,” he is seeking seven years in prison because “he is in a state of legal recidivism.” His record shows numerous convictions, the most recent in 2020 for drug trafficking. And for Tauirai Tetopata, with a clean record, “Darius’s friend, who knew very well that he would receive a mule that day,” he requests four years in prison.
“In Créteil court, for a kilo of cocaine, you get one year in prison.”
Upon hearing the indictments, the lawyers for the two local dealers expressed astonishment at the severity of the requested sentences, arguing that their clients had been used as mere hands and that the network’s leaders were in Nanterre. As for the mule’s lawyer, who had come from the mainland, he too did not hide his surprise at the sentence sought for his client. “At the Créteil court, for a kilo of cocaine, you get one year in prison.” He argued that “Polynesian public order is preserved from metropolitan traffickers thanks to distance and the numerous customs barriers to cross,” and he called for a lighter sentence. “He is 21 years old and has already spent eleven months in prison at Nuutania in the squalid conditions we know. He deserves a second chance.”
After deliberation, the court sentenced Negille Jona to four years in prison with a five-year ban on residing in Polynesia, Darius Faara to five years in prison, and Tauirai Tetopata to four years, including one year suspended.
