Puna couple face firearms and drug charges

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BORGES
FLORES
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Police have arrested a Puna couple on drug and firearms charges.

Justin Jay Flores and Theresa Pua Olena Borges, both 41, were charged Wednesday with illegally carrying a loaded firearm, four counts of prohibited possession of a firearm, three counts of illegally carrying ammunition, and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.

Bail was set at $141,000 for each individual.

According to police, on Tuesday morning, Puna Community Policing officers following up on a report of gunshots being heard the previous evening found a van parked fronting a residence on Hapuu Road in Nanawale Estates subdivision, with Flores and Borges inside the van, sleeping.

Officers spotted a lever-action rifle on the vehicle floor between the pair and a spent .22 caliber bullet casings near the van, police said

Flores and Borges were then arrested and the vehicle searched. Police say the rifle, which was loaded, was stolen. Also found were various calibers of ammunition and just under seven grams of methamphetamine, with a residue-laden smoking pipe, according to police.