Posted on: Saturday, May 7, 2005
Makiki drug base raided again
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of drug promotion and drug paraphernalia charges after Honolulu police narcotics and vice officers raided a Makiki storefront, police said yesterday.
Police Lt. Alan Bluemke said five men and two women, ranging in age from 37 to 60, were arrested after police served a search warrant on Unit 104 of the Young Street Business Center at 1334 Young St.
About 24 vice and narcotics officers took part in the raid, which began about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Some of those arrested were taken into custody shortly after police arrived, while others were arrested more than two hours later, after police sifted through evidence and interviewed people inside the storefront when the raid began.
Bluemke said the evidence seized included a sawed-off shotgun, five video gambling machines, about 10 grams of crystal methamphetamine and a small amount of marijuana.
"It was the second time in the last six or seven months the same operation was raided," Bluemke said. "It was hit (on) Oct. 2, too," he said.
The raid came after complaints and tips from area residents, Bluemke said.
The store that was raided is on the ground floor at the back left side of the business complex as it is viewed looking mauka from Young Street, Bluemke said.
Police have said they believe a savage beating of two men in July 2003 at the same address involved different factions of a gang vying for the right to supply protection for gamblers taking part in illegal games at the Young Street site.
Police believe lingering bad blood from the July 2003 beating resulted in the deaths of two men who were gunned down at the city's Pali Golf Course in January 2004. A third intended target, Tino Sao, was shot in the head at the golf course, but is recovering and expected to testify at the trial of the three defendants in the shooting.
The three — Rodney V. Joseph, 36; Nixon Maumalanga, 31; and Ethan Motta, 35 — were charged with murder and firearms offenses and are awaiting trial. They had attended a funeral at nearby Hawaiian Memorial Mortuary Park earlier on the day of the shootings for Ray Gomes Sr. His son, Ray Gomes Jr., was beaten and stabbed with a paring knife in the July 2003 Young Street brawl while working with Sao as security guards at the gambling house.
While the raid on Thursday took place at the same address where Sao and Gomes were beaten, none of those arrested has been linked to the beating or the Pali shootings, Bluemke said.
Reach David Waite at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-7412.
