Cockfight probe looks
at 4 police officers

One of those under FBI
investigation is a veteran
of HPD's gambling detail

Four Honolulu police officers -- including a vice officer in the gambling detail -- are under investigation by the FBI for alleged involvement in cockfighting.

FBI officials with a warrant searched the homes of several of the officers last Thursday and took computers, files, and other records as part of the case. Other than that, however, they would not comment about the ongoing investigation.

"We certainly acknowledge the fact that we executed some search warrants last week ... three of them," said FBI spokesman Arnold Laanui. "But we can't discuss the nature or subjects of the investigation."

Honolulu police spokesman Frank Fujii said Chief Boisse Correa "is aware of the investigation, and he cannot comment at this time."

Sources said the FBI was conducting a separate investigation unrelated to this case when it gained information about some HPD officers being involved in illegal cockfighting. The officers under investigation include a Wahiawa patrol sergeant with 20 years on the force; two members of District 4's (Windward Oahu) Crime Reduction Unit, one a six-year veteran and another a 20-year veteran; and a member of the Vice Division's gambling detail with 22 years on the force who has been on almost every police bust involving cockfighting in the last several years.

As of yesterday none of the police officers being investigated by the FBI for cockfighting had been arrested in this case.

Last week, FBI arrested and charged another veteran Honolulu police officer, 49-year-old Robert Henry Sylva, with selling crystal methamphetamine. While both cases involved the federal government looking into the activities of police officers, HPD officials said they were unrelated.