ICE DEALERS FEEL THE HEAT

HILO, Hawai'i -- Big Island police have made more crystal
methamphetamine-related arrests this year than during all of 2002, and the
public has responded with a flood of new tips about drug dealers, Police
Chief Lawrence Mahuna said yesterday.

Since January, there have been more than 300 arrests for possessing or
selling crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice," compared with 216
last year.

Mahuna said he estimates that calls from the public about drug houses have
increased fivefold since authorities in January announced a campaign of
raids known as "Operation Meltdown."

"People now know that the police department is not going to turn a blind eye
to this thing. We're going to take action against these houses," he said.
"No longer are we going to document this stuff and keep it as intelligence.
We're going to actively work these houses. We're going to get search
warrants and we're going to prosecute them."

Hawai'i County police this week announced 15 arrests during raids on four
alleged drug houses in Waimea, along with two other drug busts when
authorities discovered methamphetamine after arresting two men for
outstanding warrants.

Earlier raids in connection with Operation Meltdown targeted more than a
dozen alleged drug dens in Ka'u, Hilo and Puna and resulted in 32 arrests.

The problem of crystal methamphetamine has become pervasive on the Big
Island, particularly in rural communities where it is causing enormous crime
and social woes. The local situation has even attracted national attention.
An "ice summit" held last August in Kona to discuss the problem, one of only
four held nationally, attracted U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye and Asa Hutchinson,
head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mahuna, who was named chief in December, said police in the past might have
been interested in low-level dealers mostly as a source of information about
higher-level dealers, but that has changed.

"Now the problem with these people is that their living environment and how
they live has impacted our communities to such an extent that we have to get
rid of them," he said. "I think it's almost a form of terrorism when you
have an ice house in your community because you're scared all the time."

The price of methamphetamine on the Big Island seems to be holding steady at
about $200 a gram, but Mahuna said he believes police pressure has prompted
dealers to be more secretive.

In the Waimea raids Wednesday, Kona police and U.S. Customs Service agents
seized unspecified amounts of crystal methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana
and prescription drugs as well as cash and a firearm with ammunition.

The raids on two apartment complexes and two homes resulted in the arrests
of 11 adults, a 15-year-old boy, two 17-year-old girls and a 15-year-old
girl.

In a separate case in Hilo, officers arrested Gregg Silva, 32, for
outstanding bench warrants, and obtained a warrant to search his 1995
Pontiac Grand Am after police allegedly saw him place a bag inside the car.

A search of the car turned up more than an ounce of crystal methamphetamine,
20 grams of crack cocaine, marijuana, a handgun and $850 in cash, police
said.

Last week, Hilo vice officers arrested Jaewin Gonsalves, 19, on a bench
warrant and obtained a warrant to search the 2002 Honda two-door sedan in
which he was sitting.

Inside they allegedly found seven grams of crystal methamphetamine, about a
half-ounce of crack cocaine and $330 cash.

Gonsalves was charged with four counts of promoting a dangerous drug and two
counts of illegal possession of drug paraphernalia.