Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL HomeExclusive: rental car company workers discover meth in SUV

Exclusive: rental car company workers discover meth in SUV

By Minna Sugimoto - bio | email

HONOLULU (KHNL) - State sheriffs took tens of thousands of dollars worth of crystal meth off Oahu's streets Thursday. You'll never guess how they came across the stash.

A sign at Budget Car Rental's Honolulu International Airport location tells customers to please check for valuables. Someone forgot to do that.

Sources say workers found a backpack and a fanny pack filled with drugs in the backseat of one of their rentals.

"I'm hearing it was a huge amount," this reporter said.

"It's substantial," Louise Kim McCoy, state Department of Public Safety, said. "And that's why we want to be extra careful about what we're looking into, what kind of questions we answer at this time because, obviously, we don't want to jeopardize the investigation."

Earlier in the day, Honolulu police returned the SUV to the company after finding it in Kakaako. Sources say the renter had reported it stolen.

"We'd be looking into who had the vehicle last and how many different places this vehicle has been at," Kim McCoy said.

Back in the Budget lot, workers going through the vehicle discovered crystal meth and other items.

"Other things that might be part of this drug investigation or might not be," Kim McCoy said. "But we have to look at everything, of course."

State sheriffs move the SUV to a secured location. They then begin the hunt for a suspect.

At about 7 pm, a man, who sources identify as the renter of the vehicle, arrives at Budget to retrieve his bags. Sheriffs grab him and take him into custody.

The suspect hasn't been charged.