Police say a man and a woman, both local residents, were charged with meth trafficking and other drug offenses after they allegedly were found with a sizable quantity of narcotics Wednesday night at Kona International Airport.
At about 10:10p.m.Wednesday, Kona vice officers served search warrants on two passengers, 35-year-old Rebecca O’Brien of Kailua-Kona and 28-year-old Jacob Stone of Waimea.
“They were coming in from San Francisco,” said Lt. Sherry Bird, Kona vice commander, who added O’Brien and Stone had been under investigation by the local vice section, and officers had been awaiting their arrival.
Police say O’Brien’s belongings contained six individual bundles of narcotics packaged in a manner consistent with the importation of narcotics. The bundles contained 127.4 grams of a crystalline substance, 114.5 grams of a white powdery substance, 178.7 grams of a black tar-like substance, and 15 grams of an off-white hard substance.
From within Stone’s property, officers seized three individual bundles of narcotics, which police say were also packaged in a manner consistent with the importation of narcotics. The bundles contained a total of 91.3 grams of a crystalline substance.
“They tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine and presumptive positive for heroin,” Bird said.
At 12:15 p.m. Thursday, O’Brien was charged with meth trafficking, four counts of promoting a dangerous drug and four counts of drug paraphernalia. Her bail was set at $415,000.
Stone was charged with meth trafficking and drug paraphernalia. His bail was set at $260,000.
Both are being held in the Kona police cellblock with appearances scheduled for this morning in Kona District Court.
Police encourage the public to call the department’s 24-hour ice hotlines to provide anonymous information about meth and other illegal drugs. The hotline phone numbers are 329-ZERO-ICE (329-0423) in Kona and 934-VICE (934-8423) in Hilo. For information about how to use the hotlines, visit the police department’s website at hawaiipolice.com, click on “Police Hotlines” under the “Contact Us” tab and then on “Vice/Drug Tip Hotline.”
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
