Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL HomeElderly Suspects Arrested in Drug Bust

Elderly Suspects Arrested in Drug Bust

KALIHI (KHNL) -- An elderly couple is accused of dealing ice in Kalihi. Honolulu police arrested the pair during a drug bust Tuesday morning.

KHNL News 8's Minna Sugimoto is the only crime reporter with video of the raid. It's a report you'll see "Only on 8."

Police raid a room on the second floor of a Kalihi residence, sending shockwaves through the neighborhood.

"I scared because all the squad and the policeman running, running like that," neighbor Fay Asuncion said. "Plenty squad and police running in the house."

H.P.D.'s Kalihi Crime Reduction Unit launched an undercover drug investigation, after receiving complaints from the community. Now armed with a search warrant, officers recover evidence and arrest their targets.

"They took this old lady," neighbor Noe Malabet said. "And then about half an hour ago, I think that was like the husband came home. And they took him too."

Police book 62-year-old Ernesto Espiritu and his wife, 65-year-old Emeteria Espiritu, on suspicion of promoting drugs and possessing drug paraphernalia.

"I never thought anything going on in that house," Malabet said.

But other neighbors had their suspicions. They say traffic to the house was heavy.

"All those people going toward, they blocking all the side, the garage," Asuncion said.

The arrested husband reportedly has had a job, for quite some time, at a Waikiki hotel. Officers say they recovered a "sizable amount" of crystal methamphetamine in the couple's room.

"I'm very happy that they catch all these peoples doing a bad influence," Asuncion said.

Officers released the couple Tuesday afternoon, pending further investigation.