HAWAII ISLAND (KHON2) — They’ve seized the majority of the fentanyl confiscated in the state but Big Island police said it’s like fighting a serpent with many heads: cut one off and another grows in its place.
Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport is the primary connector for Hawaii Island with more than 80 transpacific and interisland flights arriving each day.
Lt Edwin Buyten, with West Hawaii Vice Narcotics, said 10% to 15% of their busts happen here.
“A lot of times we affect arrests or investigations where people are co-conspirators,” Buyten explained. “Maybe somebody on the inside an employee of the airline or of the airport assists somehow, some way.”
According to Buyten, not long ago, around 60% of the fentanyl in the state was recovered in West Hawaii.
And he said it’s coming in multiple ways including parcels and smuggled on airlines in luggage or by mules.
Buyten said mules–or people carrying drugs on or inside them– are usually users and he’s seen upward of a pound of illegal drugs come out of one human being.
When larger shipments of fentanyl aren’t confiscated here, he said they’re likely being sold or redirected to other islands via fishing boats and smaller airlines.
And he said traffickers get very creative. Buyten said they found fentanyl pills hidden in candy containers and recently confiscated up to 100 grams of fentanyl powder hidden inside markers.
“A trafficker will find every way to elude law enforcement,” he said. “So if we do a parcel interdiction and remove the product off the street, they are immediately going to find a new way to move the ball.”
It’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse.
“Do you ever feel like you’re playing a losing game?” KHON asked.
“I honestly don’t because our mission is one is to cut if off and stop it for sure, but the other is to be creative, and that is to disrupt, redirect, frustrate and those are wins as well.”
No matter how small the amount they want it off the street and gather information through any means possible.
“Tips, of course, intelligence, hot spots, counterparts, other federal agencies give us intelligence and we work together on that,” Buyten explained.
But he said one of the most important tools they have in their arsenal is their K9 units.
Archer is one of five narcotics K9s on the Big Island.
“They’re able to detect the odor of fentanyl as well as other illegal Narcotics,” he explained. “So we utilize them here at the airport to screen parcels, baggage. We also use them out in the field for vehicles, storage units, etcetera.”
He said there’s nothing more satisfying than making a bust because taking any amount of fentanyl off the market means lives are being saved.
“If we can stop you from doing it, or pause it for the day, then we’ve won.”
This is the first in a series of stories highlighting the Fight Against Fentanyl on Hawaii Island.