Three Nevada residents are facing prison terms and forfeitures of property and bank accounts of over $8 million after being convicted of trafficking thousands of pounds of methamphetamine from Las Vegas to Hawai'i from 2002 to 2005.

Benjamin Acuna, Anabel Valenzuela and Eddy Olguin, all of Las Vegas, were found guilty by a jury earlier this week in Honolulu after a five-week trial prosecuted by Mark A. Inciong and Clare E. Connors.

Acuna and Valenzuela, who are husband and wife, will be sentenced Jan. 5, 2009 by U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway while Olguin will be sentenced Dec. 15.

U.S. Attorney for Hawai'i Edward Kubo Jr. described the three as leaders of a large drug trafficking organization. Each faces a possible life sentence with a mandatory minimum of 10 years imprisonment, Kubo said.

The jury verdict ordered Acuna and Valenzuela for forfeit their interests in five real properties located in Las Vegas and the contents of four bank accounts and a safety deposit box . The trio were also convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The jury ordered Acuna and Valenzuela to forfeit $8 million which was described as a "conservative sum reflecting the organization's profit from the sale and distribution of 2,000 pounds of methamphetamine" in Hawai'i.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service conducted a three-year investigation into the drug operation. Twenty-one people have been convicted of federal drug offenses to date from that investigation, including Antonio Santos, 40, of Waipahu, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Sept. 2.