5 NABBED IN $5.9M KAUAI POT BUST

Federal and state officials arrested and charged five people in a
large-scale marijuana-growing operation on Kauai.

Officials seized about 6,000 marijuana plants in the dense jungle at
the foot of Mount Waialeale, which is state land. With an estimated
street value of $5.9 million, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo called the case
"the largest outdoor marijuana growing operation ever prosecuted" in
Hawaii.

The investigation, called Operation Green Stream, captured the five
suspects on videotape allegedly harvesting, cultivating and smoking
the marijuana.

Five Kauai residents are accused of cultivating 5,922 marijuana plants
on state land, and prosecutors believe the bust is a blow to the
Hawaii drug industry.

The suspects were arrested Friday as federal officials seized the
plants, which have a street value of about $5.9 million.

[redacted] have been charged on suspicion
of violating a statute involving the cultivation of more than 1,000
plants.

"There was no way of hiding this operation," said U.S. Attorney Ed
Kubo. "There are other people we suspect were involved, and the
investigation is still continuing."

All except [redacted] face 10 years to life in prison if convicted.
[redacted] was convicted in 1991 for possession of 97 pounds of marijuana
and for mailing 2,242 grams. He spent four years in prison, and, if
convicted this time, faces 20 years to life in prison.

The investigation, dubbed Operation Green Stream, began with a tip
last year November that led Kauai police to conduct an air
surveillance check at the end of Kuamoo Road and at the foot of Mount
Waialeale, which is state land.

Police saw suspected plants and plastic growbags, and a ground check
revealed gardening tools. Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Kawahara
said the area was about an hour's hike in from the end of Kuamoo Road.

This is a considerable effort for these people to conduct this
cultivation operation," Kawahara said. "You're talking about a
full-time job."

Kawahara said outdoor marijuana growing season in Hawaii begins around
September, which is why law enforcement officials didn't set up
stringent surveillance until July. Earlier this year, officers posted
surveillance on a ridge on the other side of the valley to identify
the suspects.

On July 30, officers videotaped the suspects examining the plants,
shoveling and adding more dirt to the growbags and disbursing fertilizer.

On Aug. 13, the suspects were videotaped again, with [redacted]
allegedly rolling up a marijuana joint and smoking it with her
husband, police said.

Kawahara said no firearms or cash proceeds were recovered, but
officials did seize six trucks used in moving the marijuana.

"The appearance is that this has been going on for a number of
seasons," Kawahara said.

Kubo said he speculates the marijuana was being grown for distribution
locally as well as on the mainland.

Operation Green Stream is indicative of a growing trend. In 2006, 1.7
million plants grown on federal or state lands were destroyed,
totaling $6.7 billion in street value.

State and federal officials also conduct an annual Operation Green
Harvest, in which they seize several marijuana plants being grown on
public lands. Officials did not have statistics on those busts
immediately available.

"This type of blatant illegal activity demands federal attention, and
it is our desire to keep them where they are right now, in our federal
detention center," Kubo said.