Cases link
military wives
to drug deals

The alleged incidents occurred
with their husbands deployed

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

Hawaii military officials are looking into two incidents involving military wives selling drugs on base after getting romantically involved with civilian drug dealers, according to a source close to the investigation.

One of the cases involves the 27-year-old wife of a Schofield Barracks soldier while the other suspect was identified as the 23-year-old wife of a Kaneohe Marine. At the time of both alleged incidents, the husbands of the suspects were deployed overseas.

Kaneohe Marine Corps Base spokesman First Lt. Kent Robbins would not confirm the arrest of the Marine spouse but did say that there was a "joint investigation between the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the State Narcotics Enforcement bureau."

Schofield officials said the Army Criminal Investigative Division is also conducting a probe.

"I can confirm that a spouse was arrested but really can't confirm any specific details because the investigation is still ongoing," said Schofield Barracks spokesman Capt. Steve Wollman.

When asked if there had been other similar incidents on base, Wollman said, "We don't have any indication at Schofield Barracks that drug dealers are targeting Army wives or other military family members to gain access to the military reservation."

According to the source, Schofield Barracks military police in April stopped a military wife as she drove on base because she appeared intoxicated. In her car, MPs found an unspecified amount of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, and marijuana, along with a measuring scale.

In June, MPs spotted a man on base who was later identified as the 28-year-old civilian drug supplier of the wife who had been stopped in April, according to the source. The man escaped as MPs approached after the wife picked him up in her car and drove him off base, the source said.

Afterward Army investigators searched the car of the male suspect, which he had abandoned on base, and the base residence of the female suspect. Investigators found more ice, marijuana and another measuring scale in the man's car, the source said.

In the home, investigators found more packets of ice and marijuana along with stolen property from more than a dozen motor vehicle theft cases, including video cameras, computer laptops and jewelry. State narcotics officials arrested the military wife on 12 drug offenses when she returned to base two days later.

Then, at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base last month, military police executed a search at a base home after receiving reports of marijuana smoke coming from the house, the source said. MPs found the military wife who lived there, an unidentified 20-year-old male civilian, an estimated $9,000 worth of cocaine, ecstasy, and marijuana, along with more than $3,100 in cash.

The source said the wife was eight months pregnant and married to a Marine who was on deployment in Okinawa. According to the source, MPs confiscated the drugs and barred the civilian from returning to base.

Two weeks later during an identification check, MPs found the same woman passed out in the back seat of a taxi that was leaving the base. According to the source, the woman could not be awakened and an ambulance was called.

MPs found that she had several shopping bags with packets containing ice, marijuana and various pharmaceutical drugs. Two days later, state narcotics agents arrested her on 12 drug offenses.

The source said since both women's arrests, they have been released pending investigations. The male suspect in the Schofield Barracks case has been arrested by Honolulu police for motor vehicle theft. The other male suspect involved in the Kaneohe case has not been identified.