Two people were taken into police custody Wednesday morning after vice officers from both sides of the island executed a search warrant at a home in Kailua-Kona.
With police saying fentanyl was suspected in the house after over a month-long investigation, officers wore Tyvek safety suits to protect themselves as they entered the residence on Puuolokaa Place in the Queen Liliuokalani Village subdivision.
Only two milligrams of the drug can be fatal and can be absorbed into the body via inhalation, oral exposure or ingestion, or skin contact, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The Hawaii Police Department said Wednesday afternoon an undisclosed amount of probable fentanyl was recovered from the residence and would be tested. Two currently unidentified individuals, a man and woman in the house at the time the warrant was served, were taken into custody.
They can be held for 48 hours and either be charged or released pending further investigation.
Vice Lt. Edwin Buyten said officers have seen an uptick in fentanyl recovery recently, citing the arrest of Jennifer Conway on April 21 at the Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole. Officers reportedly recovered 1.7 pounds (502 grams) of methamphetamine, 2,700 fentanyl pills with a combined weight of 287.5 grams, and 1.8 ounces (52 grams) of heroin. Her case has since been picked up the federal government.
In an unrelated case, Eustakio Estrada-Castillo was charged in February in U.S. District Court on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of methamphetamine, more than 400 grams of fentanyl, and a detectable amount of heroin, two counts of distribution of over 400 grams of fentanyl, and distribution of over 50 grams of methamphetamine. He was also nabbed by officers at the Kona airport.
Buyten said local officers have been encountering more and more cases of fentanyl recoveries resulting from traffic stops.
He said the drug has been seen laced in everything from marijuana, fake oxycodone pills, cocaine, heroin among others, leaving unsuspecting user to overdose. Street value for one tablet is $50.
“The fentanyl is made in China, routed to Mexico and comes across the border,” Buyten explained. “We are fighting narco terrorism on the streets of Kona.”