Drug agents to
focus on PahoaSubject to final OK, the Big Isle
town will be designated
a Weed and Seed area
HILO >> U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo looked out of place months ago, walking through the Big Island town of Pahoa wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie where tie-dyed clothing is more the norm.
That didn't stop one of the town's drug dealers from walking up to him on the main street and asking, "You want to buy some drugs?"
Kubo announced tentative approval yesterday for a federal program to end such activity in Pahoa, south of Hilo. Crystal methamphetamine, or "ice," will be a focus.
Federal "Weed and Seed" designation for Pahoa is approved, subject to confirmation of aspects of the local program by national officials, Kubo said. It is the fourth such designated area in Hawaii and the first on a neighbor island. Others are Kalihi to the Hawai'i Convention Center, Waipahu, and Ewa plus surrounding communities.
The program is intended to "weed" out criminal activity and "seed" beneficial new programs into the community.
The designation alone brings no money, but it puts law enforcement officials in a competitive position to apply for Weed and Seed funds of $175,000 a year for five years, plus other funding. A program coordinator, funded at $69,629, will start in August.
Kubo announced other law enforcement initiatives coming, even if further Weed and Seed money is not approved.
"We're going to be up and running in full force in Pahoa," he said. "Even if Washington, D.C., says no, in this (Hawaii and Pacific) district, I'll say yes," he said.
Kubo also announced the opening of a satellite U.S. attorney's office at the Hawaii County prosecutor's office.
The office will be staffed by only visiting agents, but the frequency of use is expected to increase to a daily presence from the current use once every two weeks, he said.
Kubo said he is also seeking to increase the number of Drug Enforcement Administration personnel on the island to four from the present one; the number of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents to four from the present two; and the number of FBI agents to four from two.
A key concept of the Weed and Seed law is no drug dealing within a thousand feet of places where children gather, such as a school or playground, Kubo said. Anyone convicted of dealing in such a zone faces double the normal federal sentence.
Dealers outside those zones will not receive the doubled sentence, but they will still be "targeted" for federal prosecution, much stiffer than state prosecution, he said.
Lon Brown, one of the community people cooperating with the program, called drug dealing a "multitiered economic disaster" in Pahoa. "Ice" takes money out of the community and destroys families, he said.
"These people beat their parents up to get money. They sell their kids into prostitution," he said.
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