98 arrested in Big Isle sweep
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — Federal and local law-enforcement authorities arrested 98 people on the Big Island during the past week in an effort to clear part of a large backlog of unserved arrest warrants.
Hawai'i County Police Chief Lawrence Mahuna said the 35 police and federal agents involved in the effort focused on people wanted on the Big Island who were also believed to be engaged in "continuing criminal activities."
As police served 150 bench warrants and four search warrants, and launched 54 new criminal cases, they seized firearms and stun guns, marijuana plants and other drugs, drug paraphernalia and counterfeit bills, Mahuna said.
A list provided by police showed most of the warrants served during the operation from June 25 through Thursday were for contempt of court, failure to appear in court or for revocation of probation. Mahuna said he did not know how many warrants were served for felony offenses.
The sweep through Hilo, Puna and Hamakua, dubbed Operation Pono Hawai'i, barely dented the stack of 3,000 to 4,000 unserved warrants on the Big Island alone, a backlog Mahuna said has been building up for years.
However, Mahuna said the operation prompted some Big Island residents to turn themselves in to avoid being hunted down and arrested.
He said he hopes the message gets out that "we're going to get these individuals. If they pose a danger to the community, we are going to use every means that we can to catch these individuals and incarcerate them."
Seized in the warrant raids and searches were nearly seven grams of crystal methamphetamine, 339 marijuana plants, nearly 9 ounces of marijuana, five counterfeit $20 bills, a rifle and a handgun, and two stun guns.
With the various seizures of contraband, police began 47 new drug and drug-paraphernalia investigations, two firearms-violation investigations and a federal forgery investigation, Mahuna said.
One of the suspects is under investigation for resisting arrest, and police are also investigating the illegal stun-gun cases.
The operation was the second large-scale sweep by the Hawai'i Fugitive Task Force, which was formed by the U.S. Marshals Service last year to help counties capture felony fugitives. The first sweep was on Maui.
Agencies participating in the task force include the Marshals Service; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the U.S. attorney's office; the state Sheriff's Division; the Big Island prosecutor's office; and the Maui Police Department.
Hawai'i has more than 1,000 felony fugitives, Mahuna said.
"We as Hawai'i's law-enforcement leaders know that with the apprehension of fugitives, there is indeed a reduction in crime because for a lot of these fugitives, crime is an occupation, and they plague our communities," said U.S. Marshal Mark Hanohano.
Hanohano said similar operations will be carried out on each island.
Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.
