Thursday, November 14, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Friday, February 5, 2021
Feds link Bay Area man to California/Hawaii coke smuggling ring, illegal gambling hall
By News Release @ 12:47 PM :: 9081 Views :: Ethics, Police, Drugs

Feds Again Doing the Job the State Won’t Do:  Ex-Husband of HPD Officer’s Druggie Girlfriend found with 24 pounds of cocaine

Individual indicted for drug trafficking and firearms possession

News Release from USDoJ, January 26, 2021  (See UPDATE below)

Honolulu, Hawaii – Ping Hong Lee of Honolulu, Hawaii, was arraigned today before Magistrate Judge Wes R. Porter on an indictment charging conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. He pleaded not guilty to the offenses. Trial is scheduled for March 30, 2021 before Senior District Court Judge Helen Gilmore

US Attorney for the District of Hawaii Kenji M. Price announced the charges.

As set forth in court filings, on January 13, 2021, law enforcement officers observed Lee, the lone occupant of a 2018 Porsche Macan GTS, pull into the pick-up area of a Waikiki Hotel. While there, a male entered the backseat of the Porsche with a dark blue duffle bag and then exited without the dark blue duffle bag. After Lee drove away, law enforcement officers tried to conduct a stop of the Porsche but were unsuccessful. The Porsche and Lee were found minutes later. Within the Porsche, law enforcement officers recovered approximately 11 kilograms (approximately 24 pounds) of cocaine from within the dark blue duffle bag, a loaded Charter Arms .38 caliber pistol, and US currency.

As charged in the indictment, Lee has a prior 2012 federal drug distribution felony conviction.

The charges announced today are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted of the charges, Lee faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years of incarceration and up to life.

The case was investigated by the DEA. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren W.K. Ching.

  *   *   *   *   *

Feds link Bay Area man to California/Hawaii coke smuggling ring, illegal Hawaiian gambling hall

UPDATE SJM Feb 4, 2021: … A Redwood City man has been arrested and charged with possessing at least five kilograms of cocaine for distribution, after state and federal authorities spent weeks tracking him and his cousin’s flights between Hawaii and California, court record show.

Javier Chavez, 45, is in Santa Rita Jail in Dublin awaiting extradition to Honolulu, where he faces federal cocaine trafficking charges along with his co-defendant, Ping Hong Lee, court records show. The criminal complaint details how federal authorities tracked Chavez for weeks seeking evidence of his involvement in a cocaine trafficking ring. They were mostly unsuccessful, until authorities in Hawaii pulled over a Porsche with Lee and Chavez inside, and allegedly found a duffle bag with 23 pounds of cocaine inside….

The criminal complaint alleges that authorities were investigating Chavez’s cousin, who is referred to only as “Individual 1,” for alleged cocaine trafficking from the Bay Area to Hawaii. Individual 1 was also suspected of working to retrofit a Hawaiian bar, described as a “known hangout” for drug traffickers, into an illegal gambling den.

The federal investigation started with a tip from Hawaii Department of Public Safety Dep. Dexter Kauahi to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, the complaint says.

“Deputy Kauahi stated that Individual 1 allegedly travelled from California recently with (approximately 22 – 33 pounds) of cocaine,” DEA Task Force Officer Sean Springer wrote in the complaint. “Deputy Kauahi also stated that he learned that Individual 1 had recently returned to San Francisco with $400,000- $500,000 of United States currency to purchase more narcotics and is due to return to Hawaii.”

After the tip, federal authorities tracked Chavez and Individual 1 as they booked flights between Hawaii and California. They followed the men around airports in San Francisco and Hawaii, watched them hang out at the American Airline’s Admiral Club, and even took note of their trips to the men’s room. On Jan. 13, Springer asked Individual 1 to consent to a search of his bags at the Honolulu airport. Individual 1 appeared “nervous and shaky” to the officer, but the search turned up nothing illegal, the complaint says.

But the following day, authorities in Hawaii spotted Chavez and Individual 1 leaving the Hawaiian Monarch hotel in Honolulu and saw Chavez — carrying a blue duffle bag — enter a Porsche being driven by Lee, the complaint alleges. They attempted to stop the Porsche but it sped off and authorities decided to discontinue the chase. But five minutes later, a Honolulu police squad car pulled over the Porsche….

read … Feds link Bay Area man to California/Hawaii coke smuggling ring, illegal Hawaiian gambling hall

  *   *   *   *   *

SA: Honolulu man found with 24 pounds of cocaine is indicted for drug trafficking

Most Intelligent Comment: “Did a search and his former wife Athena Lee was convicted of growing lots of weed in her home although she took weed for a medical condition. Athena Lee had a boyfriend who was a cop Michael Chu who was convicted for growing and distributing weed supposedly on behalf of Athena. The story said Ping Lee was convicted of illegal pill distribution in 2011 and was given an 87 month prison sentence.”…

  *   *   *   *   *

2012: Police officer’s girlfriend pleads guilty to marijuana growing

Athena Sui Lee said in U.S. District Court Tuesday that when she told her boyfriend, Honolulu police officer Michael Steven Chu, that she wanted to use marijuana to treat her health ailments, “he want do legal way; that’s why we have medical (marijuana) card.”

Lee pleaded guilty to conspiring to cultivate 48 marijuana plants and possess to distribute 49 pounds of processed marijuana in connection with indoor growing operations in her Kapiolani Boulevard apartment and Chu’s Mililani home. She faces up to five years in prison at sentencing in November.

Chu is scheduled to plead guilty Thursday.

Lee said she and Chu have been growing marijuana ever since her husband left her.

Lee’s husband, Ping Hong Lee, has been in federal custody since his arrest on July 21, 2011, for possessing with intent to distribute about 7,000 tablets of the synthetic drug known as ecstasy. He pleaded guilty and is serving an 87-month prison sentence. Athena Lee filed for divorce on Aug. 2.

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii