Isle fugitive
nabbed in IdahoA man on the federal Most
Wanted List is caught trying
to flee to Canada, agents say
A Hawaii fugitive on the U.S. Marshals Service Top 15 Most Wanted List was caught in Idaho this week after eluding law enforcement for almost six years.
Federal and local law enforcement had been tracking Reinier L.K. Kraan, 40, since July 31, 1998, when he was almost caught on Oahu during a sting operation involving a crystal methamphetamine drug purchase. However, law enforcement agents said after the drug transaction occurred, Kraan kicked his passenger out of his vehicle and drove off, hitting speeds of up to 100 miles an hour and eluding police.
Deputy U.S. marshals with a search warrant went to Kraan's Kaneohe home and found a small arsenal of 37 rifles, an assortment of handguns, an undisclosed amount of C-4 plastic explosives with electrical fuses, blasting caps, body armor, and armor-piercing and incendiary bullets. But they could not find Kraan.
Officials for the U.S. Marshals Service outlined how Kraan was tracked down.
The Marshals Service said it was not until 2003 that members of the Hawaii Fugitive Task Force -- a group of federal, state and county law enforcement agencies -- tracked Kraan down to California and then later to Las Vegas, where it was believed he had been living for the last two years.
On Tuesday, task force members set up surveillance around Kraan's Las Vegas home to arrest him. However, he never showed up.
Agents searched Kraan's house and found 965 marijuana plants with a potential street value of more than $1 million. They also later learned that Kraan and his girlfriend had left Las Vegas five hours earlier in separate cars and were believed to be heading toward Canada.
The next day, authorities picked up Kraan's girlfriend near Salt Lake City and learned that Kraan was in a silver truck with California plates and heading to Vancouver, British Columbia.
Later that day, Kraan's truck was spotted by an Idaho state police trooper on I-15 heading south of Dubois, Idaho. The trooper followed Kraan to the Crossroads Motel where he was arrested at 7:53 p.m. without a struggle.
Idaho police said they found a pound of marijuana in Kraan's car and no weapons. He has been transferred to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service and has been moved to Boise, where he awaits extradition to Hawaii.
U.S. Marshals Service
www.usdoj.gov/marshals