"Ice" was being sold at the complex as recently as last night, said Kaua'i vice squad Lt. Ale Quibilan. The units, where three couples and as many as 10 children lived, represented one of the major sources for crystal methamphetamine in the Koloa area, he said. Most of the clients appeared to be adults, he said.

Officers from the Maui, Hawai'i and Honolulu police departments joined Kaua'i police in the dawn raid, with the support of a federal Drug Enforcement Administration helicopter that was diverted from marijuana eradication duties to assist in finding anyone who attempted to flee. No one did.

Quibilan said much of the information about the sale of ice at the complex came from neighbors who reported frequent nighttime drug sales.

"The community were the ones that made us focus on this area. There was heavy traffic coming in every night," Quibilan said.

One man driving out of the neighboring Pa’anau housing complex called out his support to the police.

"That’s how. Get 'em all. Good job! Bust 'em all," he yelled.

The people in the three apartments appeared to be operating as a single organization, and the units functioned only as a sales outlet, not as an "ice" manufacturing laboratory, Quibilan said. Preliminary evidence suggested that while one of the primary dealers was a man, at least two were women.

"The mothers. The mothers were dealing," Quibilan said.