Alleged drug house targeted
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| • | Special report: Children of Ice |
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
A newly formed unit with the state attorney general's office yesterday filed its first lawsuit that seeks to prevent a Kalihi family from ever residing in its home, which authorities describe as a long-time drug house.
A complaint was filed in Circuit Court against four people accused of dealing and using drugs at a home at 1949 Stanley St. It was the first action taken by the Nuisance Abatement Unit since it was created in July.
The unit has the authority to seek out drug houses and take legal action against their owners or residents. The intent is to clean out criminal activity in neighborhoods and is part of the state's ongoing war against drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine, or ice.
The Stanley Street home has been the hub of drug activity since February 1994, according to the state's complaint. The home is owned by John S. Ancheta, who is described in the court document as a drug dealer.
Ancheta has 14 felony convictions, including drug and firearm convictions, and is serving a prison sentence in Oklahoma, the complaint said. Although the head of the family was no longer active, the house continued to be the center of drug activity, the complaint said.
"We refer to it as a second-generation drug house," said state Deputy Attorney General Kurt Spohn, a member of the nuisance abatement unit.
Named in yesterday's complaint were Ancheta's sons, Ryan and Ansen, their cousin, Warren Ancheta, and Easter Areola, whose relationship to the Anchetas was not explained in the complaint. Ryan Ancheta has admitted to selling drugs from the home and to being a member of a gang, the complaint said.
The Anchetas could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Spohn said the state will attempt to permanently prohibit the four from living in or entering the home.
"We have to show to a preponderance that there was a distribution of drugs happening at that house," Spohn said. "It's not enough to just to show use or possession of personal-use quantities."
He added that the state is expected to take more action in an attempt to shut down drug houses and clean up communities.
"What the nuisance abatement statute is all about is providing relief for the neighborhood, getting rid of the drug dealers, stopping the illegal drug transactions and the associated crime in that particular neighborhood," Spohn said.
"We hope to be able to provide the neighborhood some sort of relief by at least getting rid of the drug dealer, even if they're not going to jail yet."
Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.
