Updated at 2:45 p.m., Friday, August 10, 2001

20 arrested in drug ring bust

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Twenty people were arrested and more arrests are expected as the police and a task force of federal agencies wrap up an investigation of a Chinatown ice distribution gang.

The group is alleged to have used a beauty salon called Shear Touch at 1149 Bethel St. as a front for methamphetamine distribution.

The business sold directly to customers and dealers who distributed the drug throughout Honolulu, said Elliot Enoki, acting U.S. attorney for Hawai'i.

Enoki announced the arrests during a press conference yesterday, surrounded by representatives from the police department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service. Those agencies worked together during the seven-month investigation.

The 28 indictments were handed down by a federal grand jury Aug. 8 and kept secret until some of the arrests could be made, Enoki said.

The drug group was targeted by tHonolulu Police officers who were working in the Chinatown Weed and Seed program, Enoki said.