Big Isle police see cocaine making comeback

HILO » Two Big Island police teams formed three years ago to crack down on crystal methamphetamine are starting to see more of a different drug: cocaine.

The island's Hilo and Kona Ice Task Force teams confiscated more cocaine last year than crystal methamphetamine, or "ice."

Miles Chong of the police department in Hilo said stricter enforcement to control the ice problem on the island might have caused people to switch to cocaine.

"Both are stimulants," Chong said. "If they can't have one, they will choose the other."

In 2004, Hilo police collected 11,928 grams of ice and 110.7 grams of cocaine during 83 search warrants. But last year, they brought in 6,551.7 grams of ice and 5,592.7 grams of powdered cocaine through 90 search warrants.

Meanwhile in Kona, police confiscated 120.5 grams of cocaine in 2005, up from 35.4 grams the year before.

"We don't know if there is less ice out there," Chong said. "Our sources on the street are saying it's becoming harder to come by, becoming more expensive."

A quarter-gram of methamphetamine costs about $100 on the street, while three-quarters of a gram of crack cocaine, or "rock," costs $70, Chong said.

Police say cocaine was prevalent in Hawaii in the 1980s and early 1990s before the rise in ice.

They say drug dealers began bringing methamphetamine strapped to their bodies on flights from the mainland or overseas. Others could also be shipping the drug in containers or mail.

To deal with the problem, two police teams comprised of five officers on each side of the island were first formed in 2003.

During "Operation Capsize" -- a series of police raids between April 2004 and last summer seeking to break up three ice drug rings -- police seized 44 grams of cocaine along with 24 pounds of ice. And police seized 8 pounds* of cocaine in a marijuana bust in Puna last year.

Detective Derrik Diego, with Kona Vice, said he thinks cocaine is "coming back" because of the department's recent focus on crystal methamphetamine.

"They're hoping the department is bypassing cocaine, but we enforce all drugs," he said.