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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 12:07 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, 2003

8 charged in Kalihi crystal meth probe

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Eight people have been charged with dealing drugs within a federal Weed & Seed area and Honolulu police are seeking to charge four others with state drug offenses in connection with the alleged sales of crystal methamphetamine at Hikina Lane in Kalihi.

Abner M. Neyra, 26; Edgar U. Williams, 22; Faustino Zulueta Jr., 45; Rodney Mamgoba, 28; Wilfredo Bolo, 50, and Nicole Ramos, 21, charged in a federal indictment were arrested yesterday. One other indicted suspect — a 23-year-old man — is on the mainland, said Sgt. Ted Chun of the Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit.

Two others were charged on a federal criminal complaint with allegedly selling crystal meth to an undercover officer. Lemuel G. Ababa, 40, and Alvin B. Davis, 20, appeared before federal Magistrate Barry Kurren yesterday along with Mamgoba, Bolo and Ramos.

Multiple state charges of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and posession of drug paraphernalia are pending against four other people.

Chun said police seized more than three ounces of crystal methamphetamine from a safe and also recovered $4,000 cash in the raid on the two apartments. Police also took computers and electrical equipment from the units for forefeiture.

Police Sgt. John Kauwenaole, supervisor of the Kalihi/Downtown Weed & Seed District, said yesterday the indictments stemmed from a six-month undercover investigation into drug dealing on and around Hikina Lane, a narrow roadway 'ewa of the Kalihi-Pslama Health Center. The area is within 1,000 feet of Ka‘iulani Elementary School. Dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a school is a federal crime.

"These guys are facing a federal hammer, a minimum sentence of one year in prison if convicted," Kauwenaole said. "It hasn't been as open and blatant as the Pua Lane days, but it’s still there, and (enforcement) needs to be maintained." He was referring to drug dealing around Mayor Wright Housing before the Weed & Seed District was established in January 1998.

Each of the indictment’s 15 counts represents a drug sale to an undercover officer during the six-month investigation. Kauwenaole said crystal meth was being dealt in front of 940 Hikina Lane, a three-story apartment building. Apartments A and B, which are the units closest to the lane, were raided yesterday by police.

The six-month investigation was a response to community complaints, said Kauwenaole.

This was the biggest Weed & Seed bust in Kalihi since Sept. 11, 2001, Kauwenaole said.