WAIPOULI — Asian, Pacific Islander, Mexican and local Drug Traffic Organizations (DTO’s) are the main culprits in transporting and distributing drugs in Hawai’i Larry Burnett, the Director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, told the Kapa’a Rotary
WAIPOULI — Asian, Pacific Islander, Mexican and local Drug Traffic Organizations (DTO’s) are the main culprits in transporting and distributing drugs in Hawai’i Larry Burnett, the Director of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) program, told the Kapa’a Rotary Club Wednesday.
According to Burnett, the majority of crystal “ice” methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana are smuggled into the state from outside organizations including Mexican Familiar Federations and local, Asian as well as Pacific Islander trafficking cartels.
Burnett, the special guest speaker club’s weekly meeting held at the Kauai Coconut Beach Resort, discussed several topics relating to drugs in Hawai’i.
Chief among the concerns was how drugs are smuggled into Hawai’i and how coordinated law enforcement response can combat drug organizations and cartels.
“The people here (Kaua’i) can be alert and they can notify law enforcement when they see suspicious activity,” said Burnett. “But they need to stay on them until they see something come out of that.”
Burnett provided the Kapa’a Rotary Club meeting a presentation on threat assessment, strategies and initiatives that the HIDTA program uses in its effort to control the drug trafficking problem in Hawai’i.
HIDTA are regions in the country that have severe drug trafficking problems. The areas receive their designation from the Executive Office of the President through the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).
Hawai’i was designated as a HIDTA in 1999 based on the “crystal Methamphetamine epidemic.” The HIDTA program was created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988.
Burnett, in conjunction with the Hawai’i HIDTA Executive Board is responsible for the implementation of a program designed to assess the threat of drugs in the state and then come up with strategies to deal with the problem.
The Hawai’i HIDTA Executive Board is comprised of eight federal and state-local law enforcement agency heads that have decision-making authority. The Board coordinates task forces and investigative support for the HIDTA.
The Kaua’i Police Department is a member of the State’s HIDTA Executive Board.
According to the HIDTA program, chief strategies include “dismantling, disrupting, and prosecuting drug trafficking organizations; integration of on-site state and federal prosecutors to judiciously prosecute drug trafficking organizations; and providing oversight, consolidated training and coordination of first response to laboratories involved in the manufacturing of “ice”, PCP, LSD and GHB (the date-rape drug).”
Another of the major roles of the HIDTA program is to “dismantle those organizations which smuggle drugs into Hawai’i from domestic and foreign sources as either a final destination or transit point to other parts of the mainland, U.S. territories, and countries in the Pacific and Asia.
“A lot of times when we are into a case, it’s not instantaneous where we can take somebody down,” Burnett said. “Historically, they become a little more long term and it takes a while to build probable cause. You have to gather evidence. You don’t want to go through all of that effort just to have people escape on a technicality.
“Under the present system that we have going here with HIDTA, when we take them, they are not out on bail. They are incarcerated and they will be for a long time.”
Burnett said that the national and Hawai’i HIDTA program seeks to reduce drug trafficking by 10 percent over two years and 25 percent by 2008.
Business Editor Barry Graham can be reached at 245-3681 Ext. 251 or mailto: bgraham@pulitzer.net
