Resident discusses illegal activity
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Neighbors of a Stanley Street family accused of dealing drugs say that state action taken to ban them from their home will help, but won't solve the problem — there are two more drug houses just down the block.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
"We don't feel too safe," said a neighbor who didn't want to be identified for fear of retaliation. "Everybody here works nighttime, and it's scary coming home with drug people hanging out."
Easter Areola lives at the Kalihi home that the state described as a hub of drug activity. She said she tried to stop illegal activities at the residence where people came and went at all hours, wanting to buy, sell or use drugs.
A day after the state attorney general asked for an injunction in Circuit Court against four people accused of dealing and using drugs at a home at 1949 Stanley St., one of the people named in the state's complaint acknowledged that the house was a center of drug activity and said she had tried to stop the illegal activities.
Standing outside the home yesterday, Easter Areola, 21, said people came and went at all hours, wanting to buy, sell or use drugs.
Asked if she was involved in using or selling drugs, Areola did not give a direct answer.
She said she had put up "no trespassing" signs and even called police herself in an attempt to stop the drug dealing, but that her actions caused friction in the family.
"I've been yelling and snapping to make the neighbors hear we are trying our best to keep drug users out," Areola said. "My mom is trying to keep everybody using drugs out. Other people come here to sell. It's not easy. Nobody would listen to me. It's a lot of stress. My kids can't even come out to play."
The Stanley Street home has been a hub of drug activity since February 1994, according to the state's complaint.
The effects have spilled over into the surrounding neighborhood in the poor area just a few blocks from the O'ahu Community Correctional Center, making victims of nearby residents. Many of them are immigrants struggling to get by, and they put up with the loitering, drug dealing and fear because they have no other choice.
The Stanley Street home is owned by John S. Ancheta, who is described in the state's 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.
Areola shares the home with Ancheta's sons, Ryan — her boyfriend — and Ansen, and their cousin, Warren Ancheta. Areola said her parents and two small children also live there.
The three Anchetas and Areola were all named in the state's complaint filed Wednesday.
Ryan Ancheta has admitted selling drugs from the home and to being a member of a gang, the complaint said.
Areola said the home was recently raided by police and she was arrested along with the other three named in the state's lawsuit. She said she has a November court date on those charges.
The family has not yet been served with a copy of the state's suit, she said, but she hopes the attorney general will allow her, her children and her parents to continue living in the house while closing down the garage — called the "clubhouse" — where she said the drug dealing actually took place.
Areola said she recently graduated from Education America College and is trying to turn her life around. She said she doesn't know where she will go if forced to move.
"My boyfriend and I was living in Waipahu and doing OK, but we had to move out because of a foreclosure," she said. "I want to talk to the detective and see if we can shut just (the garage) down. The electricity, everything. And board it up."
Supervising Deputy Attorney General Lance Goto said if a judge grants the state's request for an injunction, the defendants will be forced under court order to leave the premises and not return.
"This is just the start," Goto said. "We work closely with police and prosecutors because they may have ongoing criminal investigation on the people involved and it all has to be coordinated."
The state's lawsuit was the first action taken by the Nuisance Abatement Unit since its creation in July.
The Nuisance Abatement 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 war against drugs, particularly crystal methamphetamine, or ice.
Kalihi-Palama Neighborhood Board member Ken Harding said with all the talk, meetings and conferences about what to do about drugs in Hawai'i, shutting down this house and forcing out the alleged drug dealers is something real to help solve the problem.
"I'm encouraged by the news," Harding said. "We as a community need to take back our streets. It's a type of thing people can relate to. We've got to take concrete steps to solve the drug problem and this seems like one."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
