Huge shipment of illegal fireworks seized in Honolulu
Approximately 16 tons of illegal fireworks were seized in a shipping container late last week in Honolulu, the state Department of Law Enforcement announced Wednesday.
Nearly all the seized fireworks were illegal aerial fireworks consisting of multishot “cakes” or launchers capable of firing multiple fireworks into the air in long, consecutive strings of fire.
The investigation into the illegal fireworks is ongoing, according to the DLE.
“The Illegal Fireworks Task Force has been working closely with the local shipping industry to stop illegal fireworks from making it into Hawaii,” DLE Director Jordan Lowe said Wednesday in a statement. “The strong cooperation cultivated between law enforcement and industry resulted in the interdiction of the shipping container and the recovery of the illegal fireworks.”
The DLE is the coordinating agency for the Illegal Fireworks Task Force, which comprises state narcotics agents, deputy sheriffs, county police officers, the Department of the Attorney General and federal agencies that include Homeland Security, the U.S. Postal Service, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Since its inception approximately five months ago, the task force has been actively investigating illegal fireworks in the community and has seized more than 35,000 pounds of fireworks.
Aerial fireworks have long been prohibited in Hawaii because of the risk they pose in causing injuries or property damage. Aerial fireworks and other illegal fireworks also are a constant source of community nuisance, the DLE said.
The task force is continuing “to pursue illegal fireworks and those people who illegally traffic them.”
“We hope that through cooperative efforts such as this, the community may soon enjoy the peace and quiet of nighttime without the unsettling noise of illegal fireworks,” Lowe said.
