Hawaii Police Department
Vice Section, Area II
Lieutenant Lucille Melemai
Phone: 326-4646, Ext. 226
March 3, 2008
Report No. C08006780
Media Release
Hawaii County police arrested 10 people Sunday (March 2) at a cockfight in Honaunau where drugs and weapons were also present.
At 2:20 p.m. officers from the Hawaii Police Department’s Vice Section, Criminal Intelligence Unit, Kona Patrol Section, Area II Ice Task Force and federal agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at a 9.6-acre property on Napoopoo Road in Honaunau, where more than 100 people were attending a cockfight.
Police recovered approximately 40 chickens and chicken boxes, extensive cockfighting paraphernalia, four dead chickens, two 30/30 rifles, unspent bullets, a .22 caliber long rifle and a .357 caliber pistol from the premises. They also seized $27,429 in cash for forfeiture.
Arrested for gambling and cruelty to animals were 43-year-old Rogelio Valdovinos, 41-year-old Eugenio Valdovinos, 31-year-old Gerardo Ortiz, 46-year-old Manuel Malagon-Nino, and 21-year-old Pablo Rios-Verdusco, all of Honaunau, as well as 22-year-old Guillermo Zepeda-Sanches of Kamuela.
Police also arrested 32-year-old Tomas Velasco of Kamuela for promoting dangerous drugs, 21-year-old Luis Lemus of Kailua-Kona for promoting detrimental drugs, along with 27-year-old Ricardo Mangana and 39-year-old Sandra Magana-Cisneros, both of Honaunau, for permit to acquire and registration mandatory.
The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is assisting with the firearm investigations.
Lemus was released on his own recognizance. The others remain at the Kona police cellblock without charges pending further investigation.
Agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained five men and one woman for immigration offenses and transported them to Honolulu. They also placed immigration detainers on Zepeda-Sanchez, Ortiz and Rios.
