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Two Hawaii men
indicted in California
drug ring
Conspiracy, money laundering
By Debra Barayuga
and drug charges
await the pair
Star-BulletinTwo Hawaii men allegedly linked to a major methamphetamine and cocaine ring based in California have been indicted on conspiracy charges and face trial in California.
Louis T. Ferreira Jr., 45, of Kaneohe, and Donavan J. Pantastico, 29, of Ewa Beach were arrested at their homes in separate pre-dawn raids yesterday by Honolulu FBI agents and police.
The two men appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Leslie Kobayashi, who ordered them held by U.S. marshals. Both were to be transferred to California to await a detention hearing.
Both men were charged in a superseding indictment filed Thursday in California for three separate counts of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute large quantities of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and the painkiller Vicodin, and money laundering.
Searches at their homes resulted in the seizure of numerous assets including four cars and four motorcycles, with the bulk from Ferreira's residence, FBI officials said.
The arrests yesterday provided the first, although limited, glimpse into the ring's alleged Hawaii link. U.S. attorneys here declined to discuss the case.
Also charged in a 20-page indictment filed yesterday in federal court here were John David Ward, the alleged ringleader; Howard Irvine Coones, also known as "Rusty" or "Patch"; James Mitchell Flanagan; Troy Eugene Lopp; Steven Donald Ward; and Frances Dianne Ward.
The indictment contains details of dozens of transactions and communications between John David Ward and the seven co-defendants relating to the purchase, transport, manufacture and acquisition of precursor chemicals; laboratory equipment to manufacture drugs; and unlawfully obtaining the prescription medication Vicodin.
Also described are alleged attempts to launder money through various accounts to avoid the attention of authorities. According to the indictment, Pantastico and Ferreira would receive shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and crystal methamphetamine that Ward shipped from California, and distribute the drugs here.
Among the numerous phone conversations listed in the indictment is one that occurred on Feb. 10, 1999, in which Ferreira informed Ward he had only received $100,000 of the $160,000 owed Ward from drug sales in Hawaii.
In a phone conversation a week later, Ward told Pantastico that "they" had came by "Pete's" place and that Ward was arranging to send illegal drugs.
The defendants and co-conspirators -- which include a deputy for the Orange County district attorney's office -- would use coded language to communicate in an effort to hide what they were doing, according to the indictment.
The investigation was conducted by police in Downey, Calif., and the FBI in Honolulu and Santa Ana, Calif.
