In and out of prison on drugs charges since the 1970s, Tagaloasā was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a police officer in 1980 during a raid on his drug operations.
He was released on parole in 1992 but was jailed again after being convicted of further drug charges.
It was alleged Tagaloasa continued to run his drug operations from inside his prison cell.
Authorities also accused him of masterminding a planned mass prison break from the old Tafaigata prison and moved him into the police cells at the central police station in Apia 2018.
