Law-enforcement officials seized about 35 pounds of crystal methamphetamine from a Wai-pahu home last week in one of the largest seizures of the drug in Hawai'i.

The raid was part of a crackdown on what authorities said was a major Las Vegas-to-Honolulu ice smuggling ring.

A Las Vegas man who is a former Hawai'i resident and two Waipahu men were arrested on ice charges and were being held without bail.

The 35 pounds of ice, valued at more than $4.7 million based on a street price of $300 a gram, is the largest amount seized here since the 1980s.

Geoff Wellein, public information officer for the federal Drug Enforcement Administration's Hawai'i office, said the narcotics seizure was "extremely significant" based on the amount. He said he could not speculate about the impact the seizure will have on ice trafficking, but he said "it will definitely make an impact."

Charles Lee Ranney Jr., 27, who was arrested Friday, is being held in Las Vegas. Antonio Santos, 37, and Francis M. Honda, 46, were both ordered held without bail yesterday in federal court here.

An affidavit filed in federal court to support the charge against Ranney and Santos outlined an underworld of ice sales and transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The drug, a highly addictive crystalline form of methamphetamine that is smoked, has become an epidemic-level problem in Hawai'i, some authorities say, and has been the renewed focus of law-enforcement officials, politicians and residents in recent years.

Ranney and Santos are charged with a drug conspiracy that allegedly involved about 79 pounds of ice turned over to Honda at wholesale prices since mid-2004. Honda is charged with drug possession.

The affidavit, by a DEA agent, portrays Ranney as the Las Vegas supplier, Santos as his associate and Honda as the wholesale dealer who at one time paid $300,000 to Ranney for 20 pounds of ice.

The affidavit said Honda, who was arrested Sept. 13, agreed to cooperate and gave an account of dealing in increasingly larger amounts of ice sent here from Las Vegas.

Honda at first received a pound, then later amounts ranging from 3 to 20 pounds and finally, within the past month, 40 pounds, the affidavit said.

Ranney gave Honda the 40 pounds in a box at a Hawai'i Kai home, the affidavit said. Honda was to pay at a rate of $16,500 a pound, the document said.

On Sept. 13, a search of a home of Honda's friend yielded the box and about 35 pounds of ice, the affidavit said.

Honda also had 13 ounces of the drug in a fanny pack when he was arrested that day, the document said.

If convicted, the three men could face prison terms of 10 years to life.

The investigation by DEA agents and Honolulu police was continuing.

U.S. Magistrate Kevin Chang yesterday scheduled a hearing for Thursday to determine whether Santos and Honda should continue to be held without bail. Federal prosecutors are asking they both be held as flight risks and dangers to the community.

Lawyers Joseph Mottl and Arnold Phillips, who represent Santos and Honda, declined to comment on the case.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.