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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, July 15, 2004

Fugitive who left behind arsenal on O'ahu nabbed in Idaho

By Rod Ohira
Advertiser Staff Writer

Reinier Kraan, a fugitive with ties to Hawai'i who is on the U.S. Marshals Service Top 15 most-wanted list, was arrested yesterday in Boise, Idaho.

Reinier Kraan

Mike Ferstl, chief deputy U.S. marshal for the Hawai'i District, confirmed the arrest yesterday.

In 1998, Kraan fled the scene of a sting operation targeting him for distributing crystal methamphetamine by leading federal agents and police on a high-speed chase that ended with Kraan abandoning his vehicle at Kualoa and running away. He has since been on the run.

In a search of Kraan's new $600,000 Kane'ohe home, authorities found more than 30 firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition, and explosives. He was charged in 1998 in a federal warrant with ice distribution and weapons offenses.

The Marshals Service Hawai'i Fugitive Task Force has been tracking Kraan since October 2003. Kraan was in California and moved to Las Vegas two years ago. Task Force officers were in Las Vegas on Tuesday to arrest Kraan at his home, but the fugitive never showed up.

Officers learned that Kraan had a five-hour head start, driving to Vancouver, British Columbia. Through information not disclosed by agents, officers moved in to arrest Kraan yesterday in Utah.

They arrested his girlfriend, but Kraan eluded them. Officers learned later that Kraan and the woman had been traveling in separate cars. Suspecting a change of plans, the officers alerted authorities in Idaho and Montana that Kraan might be headed to Alberta rather than Vancouver.

Acting on the information supplied by the task force, Idaho officers arrested Kraan in Boise.

Reach Rod Ohira at 535-8181 or rohira@honoluluadvertiser.com.