Pubdate: Thu, 3 Jan 2008
Source: West Hawaii Today (HI)
Copyright: 2008 West Hawaii Today
Contact:  http://westhawaiitoday.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/644
Author: Erin Miller
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

DEA AGENT: DRUG SMUGGLERS CIRCUMVENT AIRPORT SECURITY

Scrutiny of passengers may be more intense at airports today than in 
past years, but drug smugglers continue to find ways to circumvent 
security measures, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent told 
members of the Kona Crime Prevention Committee Wednesday.

"Drugs are being strapped on the person," Jimmy Yuen said. "(The 
Transportation Security Administration is) doing the best they can, 
but due to the amount of people coming through, they can't search 
everyone. ... There's so many ways drugs can come in here."

Yuen is a member of the DEA's airport task force, which is one of the 
primary agencies performing drug interdiction, or interception, in 
Hawaii's airports. Besides strapping drugs on a smuggler's body, 
drugs are hidden inside furniture and vehicles shipped from the West 
Coast, he said.

TSA agents do sometimes catch people with drugs. When they do, they 
contact the DEA, Yuen said.

Police Department Maj. John Dawrs, speaking later in the meeting, 
agreed that catching people with drugs can be a difficult task for 
TSA screeners.

"TSA's job really is to make sure our flights are safe and we're not 
blown out of the sky," Dawrs said, adding that the DEA's task force 
is the only federal agency with the specific goal of intercepting drugs.

Often, smugglers will arrive on late-night or early morning flights, 
deliver their illicit wares to distributors in the islands, then 
return the same day or the next day, Yuen said. Weekend flights are 
also frequently used for the drug trade. Before direct flights to 
neighbor islands began, drugs would route through the Honolulu 
Airport on the way to other locations, he added.

The efforts are working, Yuen said, noting that street prices for 
illegal drugs are rising, a sign that supply is harder to obtain. 
Police can benefit from working with federal law enforcement agencies 
because of the possibility of stiffer penalties upon conviction, Yuen said.

Local and federal law enforcement officers encouraged the public to 
continue to provide information about suspicious activity.

That kind of information is the best way to make sure police and 
federal agents know what might be happening, Yuen said.

"It's all about tips," Yuen said. "It's all about networking and 
providing information."

Yuen used the January Officer of the Month honoree, Thomas Shopay, as 
an example of how law enforcement agents take tips from the public 
and turn that information into arrests. Shopay, who joined the Kona 
Airport Task Force in 2004, received a tip that people may be 
bringing drugs from San Francisco to Kona on a flight that stopped on Maui.

Police allowed the four men suspected of carrying the drugs to 
retrieve their luggage at Kona International Airport, then stopped 
the men. One of the men would not give permission to search his backpack.

"Officer Shopay, anticipating things like that, which is what we do, 
had a K-9 standing by," said Detective Gilbert Gaspar, who nominated Shopay.

The dog gave a "positive alert" on the bag, indicating drugs might be 
inside. Shopay requested and received a search warrant for the bag 
and found 2.5 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, which has a street 
value of approximately $200,000. The four men were taken into federal custody.

"He's very diligent," Gaspar said, describing Shopay. "He's a worker 
any supervisor would love to have under their command."

Shopay deferred credit to other officers involved with the investigation.

The success came from "a culmination of planning, teamwork and 
commitment," he said. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake