POLICE BEAT
Court date set on drug charges
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer
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Three men, including a founding member of a popular musical group in Hawai'i, are scheduled to appear in federal court later this month to answer charges of bringing an estimated 50 pounds of methamphetamine into the state.
Federal authorities said the seizure of the drugs in a Royal Kunia apartment Feb. 9 was one of the biggest Hawai'i drug busts in years.
Joe Daniels Jr., Junior Auelua and Lauolefisa Afo are scheduled to appear March 17 before federal magistrate judge Leslie Kobayashi for a final pretrial conference in the case in which they are accused of importing more than 50 containers of methamphetamine, or ice, estimated to be worth millions of dollars.
Daniels, a founder of the reggae and hip-hop group B.E.T, or Big Every Time, also is scheduled to go to court this afternoon, asking to be moved from the Federal Detention Center to a halfway house while he awaits trial.
Court documents filed Feb. 11 said the three men "knowingly and intentionally" conspired to distribute the methamphetamine, which was shipped in two FedEx packages from Los Angeles.
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents began tracking two parcels suspected of containing the drugs in Los Angeles on Feb. 7, but allowed the shipments to continue to Hawai'i. Before being shipped, the packages were fitted with electronic beepers and a tracking powder, court documents show.
An affidavit sworn by a federal drug agent in Hawai'i said Auelua picked up the packages Feb. 8 in La'ie and used a rented car to take them to a parking lot in the Pearlridge area. There he met Afo, who put the packages in another rented vehicle and took them to Daniels' apartment in Royal Kunia, according to the affidavit.
When the packages were opened inside the apartment, a beeper went off, agents entered the apartment and arrested Daniels, Afo and another man, who was released without charges, according to the documents. Auelua was arrested in La'ie a short time later.
Auelua reportedly admitted mailing the parcels from Los Angeles and told authorities he was paid $2,000 or $3,000 for each mailing, the affidavit said.
The three men remain in custody at the Federal Detention Center, charged with several drug counts, including possession and intent to distribute.
Daniels is half of the duo that makes up B.E.T. The group, which features a mix of L.A. street music and the sounds of Jamaica, was formed in 1993 and has recorded two albums, according to its official Web site.
Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Correction: Leslie Kobayashi is a federal magistrate judge. Her position was incorrectly reported in a previous version of this story.
