HONOLULU (AP) — Authorities intercepted a package mailed from California to Hawaii containing more than 4 pounds of crystal methamphetamine and four children’s coloring books.
The package led to arrests of three men and the seizure of more than $500,000.
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered one of the defendants, William Notyce, held without bail.
According to court documents, a U.S. Postal Service inspector last week located a suspicious package being mailed from Redwood City, California, to a Honolulu post office box. Authorities removed the drugs, replaced it with pseudo meth, repackaged it with the coloring books and installed a tracking device.
Notyce went to the post office and saw that the package had arrived, but left without picking it up, the documents said. The next day, Keith Matsuda picked up the parcel and gave it to Chaes Yanagihara, who drove it to an apartment building.
Notyce was the one who opened the package in an apartment and gave instructions to the others about it, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marion Percell said. Authorities believe that after he opened the package, he realized it was part of a surveillance operation and jumped over the apartment’s lanai into the neighboring unit in an attempt to avoid being caught, Percell said.
Inside the unit, authorities found $552,000 in cash, she said.
In trying to argue for Notyce’s release, defense attorney Todd Eddins said he’s a father of an infant and a 2-year-old and isn’t a flight risk.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Eddins said. “He’s not going to abandon his young children.”
A detention hearing is scheduled Monday for Yanagihara. Matsuda was previously released on bail. Their defense attorneys couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
