DEA CLAIMS GREEN HARVEST RULES FOLLOWED

HILO - When performing Green Harvest operations on the Big Island,
agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) abide by the
rules the county has imposed on its police.

"The guys are mandated to adhere to what the County Council has
requested, what the police department asks," said DEA Special Agent -
In - Charge Tom Kelly, in the Honolulu District office. "It's a
collective effort between all the agencies when they go out on the
mission."

Kona Councilman Curtis Tyler raised the issue last week when the
County Council reviewed a report from the county Police Department
regarding one of the more recent marijuana eradication missions.

In that report, the explanation for at least three complaints about
low - flying helicopters was the helicopters are "owned by the (DEA)
and no Hawaii Police Department personnel was on board. The telephone
number to the DEA was provided."

Tyler and other councilmembers, including retired police Captain
Leningrad Elarionoff, who represents the Kohala District, maintain
DEA should follow the rules that say they cannot fly below 1,000 feet
unless probable cause exists.

Tyler at a Finance Committee meeting last Wednesday noted county
police were not present to answer his inquiry about DEA abiding by
the county's marijuana eradication rules.

Elarionoff said then and reiterated this week he does not believe the
Police Department should be held accountable for DEA's actions.

"I would have much more respect for the DEA if they respected the
rules that were imposed on the police department," Elarionoff said.

"If they're on a separate mission, I feel we have no right to impose
on them. However, if our Hawaii County police officers are in the
chopper on the same mission, I think they're obligated to comply,"
the Kohala councilman said. "Ownership of the helicopter does not
allow for the non - compliance but the mission does."

Lt. Robert Hickcox, of the Police Department's Vice Division in Kona,
said everybody involved in the marijuana eradication abide by the
county's rules.

"If they are going to be working on our island, all the pilots abide
by those guidelines," Hickcox said.

He said those include helicopter pilots with DEA, the Hawaii Air
National Guard and Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Representatives from those agencies have joined with police in all
four counties to form the Domestic Cannabis Eradication Suppression
Program, which ultimately answers to Kelly.

Hickcox said the Honolulu Police Department's helicopter also is used
in missions, as are commercial helicopters rented for about $650 per
hour.

He said in a briefing before each eradication mission, the rules are
reviewed with those participating in the mission.

Hickcox and Kelly said Hawaii County is the only county that has
imposed eradication rules.

"We get criticized by the public about our operations, then we get
questioned by other agencies, saying, 'Why this? Why that?' - We just
say, 'It's what the council wants.'"

"We just do what we're told," Hickcox said.

"We don't have any of these issues anywhere else in Hawaii," said
Kelly of the rules, and complaints about low - flying helicopters.
"It's only over there (on the Big Island) that anyone has made issues
of it."

"That's the only place where people are testifying in front of the
County Council about problems of marijuana eradication," said Kelly.

"Maybe the people who are complaining have a vested interest," he
said, before, "It's a combination of legitimate people who want their
quiet environment and maybe some other people who've got something
they don't want police looking in their backyards on."

Kelly acknowledged that he has spoken to Mayor Harry Kim who has
relayed the concerns from people who don't like listening to noisy
helicopters hovering in their neighborhoods.

He reasoned that having the pilots fly at 1,000 feet "makes it a
little more difficult for guys to identify the marijuana" and means
they "might have to hover in the area longer than if they were at a
lower altitude."

In any event, Kelly said, "We want to cooperate with the community as
much as we can and still do our job to eradicate marijuana - which is
an illegal substance."