KUBO: 'ICE' PROBLEM WILL BE CONTAINED IN 3 YEARS

State, Local Officials Bust Up Drug Rings

U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo said Thursday that he believes the crystal
methamphetamine, or "ice," problem in the state will be contained by
the time his term is set to expire in three years.

Kubo based this assessment on the headway he said his office, along
with local and state authorities, have made in breaking up
distribution rings and a growing number of meth labs on the islands
over the past several years.

"Our status on the war on ice is we're definitely making a
difference," Kubo told members of the Rotary Club of Kona during a
meeting at the Royal Kona Resort. "If we continue with this trend, in
three years we will have the problem contained. Not controlled, but
contained. But it's going to be a long, hard battle."

When Kubo became Hawaii's U.S. attorney in 2001 by appointment by
President Bush, Hawaii was considered the methamphetamine capital of
the nation, with an estimated 30,000 users, Kubo said. In 2002,
almost half of all males arrested in the state tested positive for
ice and Hawaii had the highest amount of thefts and larceny committed
in the nation. And four years ago, the Big Island began rivaling Oahu
as the top destination of ice from Mexico and California.

"Things didn't look good in 2002," Kubo told the group. "It got to
the point where crime was so high, we became known as the ice capital
of the United States. We were frustrated on how to attack this problem."

The plan of attack became to more aggressively prosecute individuals
arrested for ice distribution, forcing them to federal court, instead
of state and local courts, taking away the possibility of probation
for distribution offenses.

"They are getting straight hard time in federal penitentiaries on the
mainland," Kubo said. "There's no probation, no parole."

Kubo's office, in conjunction with state and local authorities, also
began the Weed and Seed program, which targets known offenders in
high-crime areas and pulls them off the street for any offense
authorities can nab them on.

"If they jaywalk, they are picked up," Kubo said.

The program started in Kalihu-Paloma Chinatown and Waipahu on Oahu,
which in one year resulted in a drop in crime by 70 percent and 80
percent respectively. Kubo has since brought the Weed and Seed
program to Pahoa, the first effort outside of Honolulu last year.
While Kubo didn't provide any statistics of its affect, he said the
program is working there as well.

"We're starting to see results in Pahoa and that's a good thing for
the Big Island," Kubo said. "I've said before that it is my desire to
come to the Big Island to retire. So I have a stake in this island."

But with all the eradication efforts comes some side effects. The
price of ice has gone from $25,000 to $30,000 a pound in Hawaii,
which Kubo views as a successful byproduct of the squeeze on
distributors. But some believe that the rise in ice street prices has
also caused an alarming surge in property crimes, particularly on the
Big Island.

Rotary Club member and security systems salesperson Laura Guluzzy
said her business has doubled in Kona in the last year, as people
clamor to install security systems in their homes to combat the thefts.

"With the price of ice up, the rash of burglaries here in Kona has
gotten absolutely out of control," Guluzzy said. "I worked four 12
hour days last week giving presentations, setting up systems and
making contracts."