Video store owner
arrested in drug raidThe Ala Moana bust is part
of an operation that also resulted
in 40 drug-related arrests
A federal grand jury has filed a 99-count indictment charging the owner of an Ala Moana adult video store with money laundering and managing a building that facilitated drug trafficking.
Authorities say the store, Swing Video at 1340 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite 102, was a front for drug dealers.
Betty Yi Hernandez, owner of Swing Video, was arrested yesterday at her Ala Poha Place home in Salt Lake.
In a raid at her store at about 8 a.m. yesterday, police and federal agents seized equipment and arrested two people.
Police have also seized Hernandez's bank accounts, two cars and Honolulu apartment, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said yesterday.
The Swing Video raid and Hernandez indictment are part of a long-term operation that included 38 arrests of alleged dealers and users in the state and elsewhere with connections to cocaine and methamphetamine suppliers in California and Arizona, said Drug Enforcement Administration Assistant Special Agent in Charge Briane Grey.
If convicted of managing a drug trafficking house, Hernandez would face up to 20 years in prison.
Each of the 91 money-laundering charges against the 50-year-old carries a maximum 20-year term.
Hernandez's indictment is the result of a two-year investigation into the store, Kubo said. But the business and its owner have been targeted before by law enforcement.
Swing Video, formerly at the corner of North Hotel and Smith streets, was the focus of a drug investigation in the late 1990s.
Hernandez relocated the business to an area outside of the federal Weed & Seed district after her downtown building was seized.
Swing Video was once again included in the federal program's area when the downtown Weed & Seed boundaries were expanded in August to include Ala Moana to the east and Kalihi Valley to the west.
Weed & Seed is a federal program that aims to reduce crime by "weeding" out drugs.
Beginning in 1999 at the Kapiolani location, Hernandez charged dealers $20 to sell drugs at her store and users $2 to enter, according to the indictment.
"In exchange, the defendant offered her establishment as a protected area where dealers could sell drugs in private, without being seen by the police," Kubo said. "This made police narcotics investigations difficult but made Swing Video a very profitable enterprise."
Hernandez used the money garnered from her store to pay for the store's lease and her apartment's mortgage, totaling $437,000, he said.
The video store's neighbors say they have been reporting suspicious activity at the establishment near Sheridan Street for more than two years.
"The effects have been downright terrible," said Lance Muragami, owner of nearby hair salon Lancers, adding that dozens of people were always hanging around the store, making his customers and employees wary. "This has been years of just pain and suffering."