Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

More arrests
pending in massive
federal drug bust

At least 33 people were
arrested yesterday in
Hawaii and California

By Debra Barayuga
and Gary Kubota
Star-Bulletin

More suspects may be arrested today after one of the largest drug sweeps in Hawaii began yesterday.

Seventy-seven people were charged in separate indictments unsealed yesterday following an investigation into a drug distribution ring that operated between the West Coast, Mexico and Hawaii for at least a year.

At least 33 people were arrested yesterday in Hawaii and California, said assistant U.S. Public Defender Michael Weight. Most of those arrested were from West Maui.

Eight indictments, totaling some 300 pages, were filed as a result of the investigation. Indicted were alleged drug suppliers, drug couriers and numerous co-conspirators.

Weight said the arrests appeared to follow extensive wiretaps of hundreds of telephone calls.

The suspects, some of whom include illegal immigrants who had been previously denied admission to the United States, were flown to Honolulu last night for initial U.S. District Court appearances that lasted into the night.

U.S. Magistrate Francis I. Yamashita continued to assign attorneys to defendants today, and expects to see more of the defendants next week.

All of those arrested are being held without bail until a court hearing on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, Weight said.

According to court documents, prosecutors identified Felipe Ruiz-Castro as the alleged ringleader who organized the sale and distribution of cocaine, heroin, crystal methamphetamine and marijuana for distribution in Hawaii between May 1, 1999, and May 3, 2000.

Ruiz is named in a 137-count indictment charging him with conspiring with at least seven other individuals to possess and distribute drugs.

Court documents detail numerous long-distance phone, pager and cellular phone communications among members of the Ruiz-Mora drug organization arranging for the sale and shipments of drugs and precautions to avoid getting caught.

The drugs were allegedly distributed on Maui, Oahu and the Big Island.

Once the drugs arrived in Hawaii, members of the ring repackaged the drug, usually into ounce and gram quantities, for distribution. Ruiz and Francisco Mora-Garcia used La Fogata Mexican Restaurant in Lahaina to store the drugs, authorities say.

Co-conspirators hid the income and assets from the drug sales through wire transfers, indictments say.

The drugs were allegedly hidden in the clothing or shoes of couriers who passed undetected through airport monitors. Some couriers were arrested.