The Hawaii Fire Department Hazmat team and state Narcotics Enforcement Division personnel entered a unit at Alii Lani Townhouses Friday to search for suspected fentanyl.
Hawaii Police Department Kona Vice Detective Kelsey Kobayashi said the search was the result of a welfare check call received at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. When police entered the residence, officers reportedly found evidence of suspected fentanyl being extracted from patches.
A 44-year-old Kona woman who resided at the condo and a man were arrested at the scene on suspicion of third-degree drug promotion. Each was later released pending the investigation.
Kobayashi said three children at the home were taken into protective custody.
Due to the alleged potentially lethal drug inside the condo, officers sealed off the unit, posted police to protect the scene and called in units from the Narcotics Enforcement Division from Honolulu.
On Friday, four members of the division joined Hawaii Fire Department Hazmat personnel and entered the building donning full protective gear.
“Because the suspected drug was fentanyl, which can be lethal, we called them,” Kobayashi said. “They have the training and expertise in dealing with it.”
Officers who were searching for the drugs in the closed up unit with no air conditioning were treated by HFD at the scene for heat-related issues.
Kobayashi said because of the increase of the drug on the island, the vice division will be receiving training to safely handle the deadly opiate.
Because the county police department does not have a presumptive test for fentanyl, the suspected drugs recovered will be sent to the lab in Honolulu for analysis, with results expected by next week.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. It is 100 times more potent than morphine. Two milligrams of the drug can be fatal.
Fentanyl patches release small doses of the drug transdermally over a period of three days and are available by prescription only.
According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market. Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids. Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drug.
Anyone with information on the incident should contact Kobayashi at (808) 326-4646, ext. 271, or kelsey.kobayashi@hawaiicounty.gov.
Anyone with information relating to illicit drug use and distribution should call (808) 329-“ZERO-ICE” (329-0423) with information pertaining to the districts of Kaʻu, Kona, South Kohala, and North Kohala. For information pertaining to districts of Puna, South Hilo, North Hilo, and Hamakua, call (808) 934-“VICE” (934-8423). Tips can be made anonymously 24/7.
