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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, December 28, 2007

Maui police seize 10 pounds of cocaine

By Chris Hamilton
The Maui News

WAILUKU, Maui — Maui police seized 10 pounds of cocaine at the home of a Kihei man on Saturday, marking the second-largest seizure of the drug on Maui this year.

Gabriel R. Collazo, 29, appeared for a preliminary hearing Wednesday in Wailuku District Court.

About 11 a.m. Saturday, police armed with a search warrant and a battering ram knocked in the door of Collazo's Kauhale Street home, where Collazo allegedly had been selling 10 pounds of cocaine every month for the past three months and dealing drugs for the past half-year, police and prosecutors told Wailuku District Court Judge Douglas Ige.

A team of 10 officers also seized about 3 pounds of marijuana, police officer Masa Kaya testified.

Collazo had been staying at the Kihei home of his 51-year-old mother for more than a year, said his attorney, William Sloper.

Kaya testified that Collazo twice waived his right to an attorney, submitted to interviews and said he wanted to cooperate with police.

Investigators first found cocaine in gallon- and quart-sized plastic bags in the kitchen, Kaya said. Then, with Collazo's help, police discovered a cardboard UPS box addressed to the defendant containing four taped-up bricks of cocaine.

During the search, police also discovered several marijuana-growing areas in the home. Some of the plants were as tall as 6 feet, Kaya said. Collazo told police that he had a card to grow and possess medicinal marijuana legally. However, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney J.D. Kim said that card was never found by police or presented by the suspect.

Authorities estimated that the drugs had a street value of $500,000. Police did not say how they learned drugs were in the home.

Collazo is charged with first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, two counts of possessing drug paraphernalia and a single count of second-degree commercial promotion of marijuana.

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