Police arrest three in crystal meth raid
By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer
Kalihi police yesterday arrested three of eight people named in a 15-count federal indictment that charges them with dealing drugs in the Kalihi/Downtown Weed & Seed District, and seized about 3 ounces of crystal methamphetamine in a raid on two Hikina Lane apartments.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Police Sgt. John Kauwenaole, supervisor of the Kalihi/Downtown Weed & Seed District, said the indictments stem from a six-month undercover investigation into drug dealing on and around Hikina Lane, a narrow roadway 'ewa of the Kalihi-Palama 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.
HPD District 5 Crime Reduction Unit officers and a Special Services Division officer search a car at the site of a drug raid on Hikina Lane in Kalihi. The drug raid follows a six-month investigation in the area.
"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 today by police.
Sgt. Teddy Chun, supervisor of the Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit, said police found about 3 ounces of crystal meth in a safe in unit B and drug paraphernalia in both apartments.
The roundup began Monday night with the arrest of a 20-year-old man at 7:30 p.m. on North King Street, across from Hikina Lane.
Two other men, ages 32 and 50, who are named in the indictment, were arrested at 6:15 a.m. yesterday at Hikina Lane. The older man was taken to The Queen's Medical Center after experiencing a high pulse rate. All three will be turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service later today.
Drugs were being sold on North King Street between Hikina and Auld lanes. Chun said people were coming to the apartments to pick up drugs or selling them on the streets.
The six-month investigation was a response to community complaints, noted Kauwenaole.
This was the biggest Weed & Seed bust in Kalihi since Sept. 11, 2001, Kauwenaole said.
Correction: Hikina Lane resident Elsie Kanae did not comment for a this story. A woman interviewed at the scene incorrectly identified herself to a reporter as Kanae. Comments from that woman, whom The Advertiser has not yet been able to identify, appeared in a previous version of this story.
