Two men arrested and charged in major Kona drug bust

Two men have been arrested and charged after members of the Hawai‘i Police Department’s Area II Vice Section on Jan. 3 recovered a large quantity of illegal drugs with a street value of more than $54,000.

According to police, 38-year-old Pueo Francois of Kona and 61-year-old Abdur Ali-Woods of Sacramento, Calif., were charged Jan. 4 with 11 drug-related offenses. After conferring with the Hawai‘i County prosecutor’s office, Francois and Ali-Woods were each charged with:

• Five counts of first-degree promoting a dangerous drug.
• Two counts of second-degree promoting a dangerous drug.
• One count of third-degree promoting a dangerous drug.
• One count of promoting a controlled substance in, on or near public housing projects or complexes.
• One count of drug paraphernalia.
• One count of third-degree promoting a detrimental drug.

Francois also was arrested for an outstanding criminal contempt warrant.

Vice investigators obtained information that a male party, later identified as Ali-Woods, was flying to Hawai‘i Island from out of state, with possible powdered fentanyl to distribute, and that Francois was in possession of powdered fentanyl.

On Jan. 3, officers conducted an investigative traffic stop on a rental vehicle in Kona being operated by Francois in which Ali-Woods was a passenger. The vehicle was screened by a Hawai‘i Police Department narcotics K9, and after the K9 alerted to the scent of narcotics, the vehicle was towed to the Kealakehe Police Station.

A search warrant was executed on the vehicle, with police recovering nearly 50 grams of fentanyl, more than 20 grams of methamphetamine, 45 grams of heroin and 21 grams of marijuana. The combined street value of the drugs is more than $54,000. Police also seized $786 in U.S. currency for forfeiture.

Francois and Ali-Woods’ bail was set at $321,250 each. Both parties made their initial court appearance Jan. 5 in Kona District Court.