Pubdate: Fri, 11 Nov 2005
Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)
Copyright: 2005 West Hawaii Today
Contact:  http://westhawaiitoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644
Author: Betsy Tranquilli

KUBO: 'ICE' PROBLEM WILL BE CONTAINED IN 3 YEARS

State, Local Officials Bust Up Drug Rings

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said Thursday that he believes the crystal 
methamphetamine, or "ice," problem in the state will be contained by 
the time his term is set to expire in three years.

Kubo based this assessment on the headway he said his office, along 
with local and state authorities, have made in breaking up 
distribution rings and a growing number of meth labs on the islands 
over the past several years.

"Our status on the war on ice is we're definitely making a 
difference," Kubo told members of the Rotary Club of Kona during a 
meeting at the Royal Kona Resort. "If we continue with this trend, in 
three years we will have the problem contained. Not controlled, but 
contained. But it's going to be a long, hard battle."

When Kubo became Hawaii's U.S. attorney in 2001 by appointment by 
President Bush, Hawaii was considered the methamphetamine capital of 
the nation, with an estimated 30,000 users, Kubo said. In 2002, 
almost half of all males arrested in the state tested positive for 
ice and Hawaii had the highest amount of thefts and larceny committed 
in the nation. And four years ago, the Big Island began rivaling Oahu 
as the top destination of ice from Mexico and California.

"Things didn't look good in 2002," Kubo told the group. "It got to 
the point where crime was so high, we became known as the ice capital 
of the United States. We were frustrated on how to attack this problem."

The plan of attack became to more aggressively prosecute individuals 
arrested for ice distribution, forcing them to federal court, instead 
of state and local courts, taking away the possibility of probation 
for distribution offenses.

"They are getting straight hard time in federal penitentiaries on the 
mainland," Kubo said. "There's no probation, no parole."

Kubo's office, in conjunction with state and local authorities, also 
began the Weed and Seed program, which targets known offenders in 
high-crime areas and pulls them off the street for any offense 
authorities can nab them on.

"If they jaywalk, they are picked up," Kubo said.

The program started in Kalihu-Paloma Chinatown and Waipahu on Oahu, 
which in one year resulted in a drop in crime by 70 percent and 80 
percent respectively. Kubo has since brought the Weed and Seed 
program to Pahoa, the first effort outside of Honolulu last year. 
While Kubo didn't provide any statistics of its affect, he said the 
program is working there as well.

"We're starting to see results in Pahoa and that's a good thing for 
the Big Island," Kubo said. "I've said before that it is my desire to 
come to the Big Island to retire. So I have a stake in this island."

But with all the eradication efforts comes some side effects. The 
price of ice has gone from $25,000 to $30,000 a pound in Hawaii, 
which Kubo views as a successful byproduct of the squeeze on 
distributors. But some believe that the rise in ice street prices has 
also caused an alarming surge in property crimes, particularly on the 
Big Island.

Rotary Club member and security systems salesperson Laura Guluzzy 
said her business has doubled in Kona in the last year, as people 
clamor to install security systems in their homes to combat the thefts.

"With the price of ice up, the rash of burglaries here in Kona has 
gotten absolutely out of control," Guluzzy said. "I worked four 12 
hour days last week giving presentations, setting up systems and 
making contracts."
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman