A Kona man found with suspected fentanyl at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport last week was out on supervised release for an unrelated case where he was found with the synthetic opioid last year.
Dorian Thompson was arrested on Feb. 2 after Hawai‘i Island police received information from a reliable confidential source that the 35-year-old had flown from San Francisco, Calif., and was intending to bring back fentanyl.
According to a probable cause statement filed in Kona District Court on Monday, another source told VICE detectives Thompson “intended to fly back to Hawai‘i Island with a load of fentanyl.”
Thompson was seen disembarking a United flight with an orange-colored backpack.
While doing surveillance at the airport, officers saw Thompson speak with a United Airlines employee who gave him a black backpack. After seeing officers attempt to contact him, Thompson appeared nervous and tried to abandon the backpack.
Thompson was initially arrested on suspicion of violating the terms and conditions of his release in a drug case where he is awaiting trial on charges of a class B promotion of a dangerous drug and class C promotion of a dangerous drug after being found with fentanyl on Sept. 17, 2023, and Nov. 9, 2023.
Through the course of their investigation on Friday, the police department’s narcotics dog Boyke smelled something on the backpacks. As a result, detectives secured a warrant to search the packs where they found 21.7 grams of a white chalky substance.
In a field test, the substance tested presumptive positive for fentanyl.
According to the probable cause statement, Thompson told authorities he was a user of the synthetic opioid and he “flew to San Francisco to purchase fentanyl at a cheap cost.”
On Monday, Kona District Court Judge Kimberly Tsuchiya granted a reduction in bail over the prosecutor’s objections from $50,000 to $5,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for today at 9:30 a.m.
About a month ago, a Kona couple was arrested for possession of fentanyl at the airport. According to Hawai‘i Island police, there were seven fentanyl-related arrests at the Kona airport in 2023.
