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Weed & Seed
program squelches
isle drug dealers

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By Suzanne Tswei
Star-Bulletin

Auntie Ruth doesn't need anybody to tell her the anti-crime Weed & Seed operation has been a success in her neighborhood. She can tell by the peace and quiet at night.

"I used to hear sirens in the middle of the night. They always end up in the 'Pupus,' the area where the streets begin with 'Pupu.' That's a high-crime area. I don't hear the sirens anymore. I have to say it's declined quite a bit," says the 45-year-old lifelong Waipahu resident.

Ruth was used to seeing drug dealers hanging around street corners. She doesn't see them as often, either.

"There is still crime in Waipahu, but it's slowly dissipating," she said, "I know the Weed & Seed operation is working."

The operation has been "very much a success," U.S. Attorney Steven Alm said yesterday. In effort to "weed out the criminals," federal and local law enforcement officials launched an undercover drug investigation in September in Waipahu, the second Weed & Seed operation in the state, he said.

The investigation has resulted in the arrests of 31 people on drug-trafficking and related charges. In addition, in a separate drug investigation involving wiretap, officials broke up a methamphetamine distribution ring in Leeward Oahu with the arrests of five others who used a private parcel service to transport drugs from the mainland, Alm said.

Alm said the second investigation is not related to the Weed & Seed operation, but grew out of cooperation among the agencies working together -- Alm's office, Honolulu police, the FBI and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

The Weed & Seed operation is a federal Department of Justice program that began in 1991 on the mainland and now has 250 sites across the nation. The Chinatown/Kalihi/Palama area was targeted in 1998 as the first Weed & Seed site in Hawaii, and that operation so far has resulted in the arrests of 150 people on drug and related charges, Alm said.

In the Chinatown/Kalihi/Palama area, small amounts of crack cocaine were being sold on street corners, Alm said. The Waipahu operation turned up distribution of methamphetamine and larger sales between middlemen and dealers, he said.

Of the 31 people arrested in the Weed & Seed operation, nine of them have been indicted by a federal grand jury on suspicion they engaged in the sale of "ice." The nine are: Jose Bustamante, 26; Jeffrey Fitzgerald, 45; Bonnie Silva, 28; Shentel Romias, 32; Vince Auld, 34; Elaine Maile Silva, 52; Wayne Bernard, 22; Audie Baros, 21; Jonathan Puahi, 32.

If convicted, the nine defendants may face maximum sentences of 40 years, 80 years or life. Parole is not possible because of the type of offenses. The remaining 22 suspects have been referred to the state for prosecution.

In the wire-tap drug investigation, the five arrested are Pulaa Gatoloai, also known as "P;" Aneterea Felise Tupuola, also known as "Jay;" Frank Laine Fejeran; Fouina Charles Toilolo, also known as "Flex;" and Tolua Sulu Umaleava, identified as the drug source in California. Two others, including a man known only as Tony, remained at large.

Alm said the wiretap investigation involved delivery of 1.75 pounds of "ice" and an agreement for sale of one pound of the drug for $32,000.