Kealakekua man charged after police find 6 pounds of marijuana, cocaine, other drugs at single-vehicle crash site

Hawai‘i Island police arrested a 29-year-old Kealakekua man in the early morning hours of Sept. 23, charging him with traffic and drug offenses following a single-vehicle car crash in Kailua-Kona.

Area II Vice detectives recovered more than six pounds of marijuana, cocaine and other drugs as part of the investigation, according to a police press release.

At 1:35 a.m. on Sept. 23, Kona Patrol officers responded to a reported single-vehicle traffic collision involving a 2007 Honda sedan at the intersection of Kaiwi Street and Ma’a Way.

During the investigation it was learned the male driver and female passenger were traveling southbound on Ma’a Way and drove through the intersection at Kaiwi Street, subsequently striking a rock wall. Neither occupants sustained injuries.

As police investigated the collision at the scene, they recovered 2.59 pounds of marijuana and 1.6 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms outside the vehicle on the ground. The driver of the vehicle, 29-year-old Omar Avina-Becerra, was arrested at the scene for traffic and drug related offenses and an additional 15 grams of cocaine found on his person. He was also in possession of more than $3,900 in US currency.

The sedan was recovered from the scene and secured at the Kona Police Station pending a search warrant.

When members of the Area II Vice Section executed a search warrant on the sedan on Sept. 25, they recovered an additional:

• .5 pounds of marijuana
• 43 grams of marijuana concentrate
• 1.45 pounds of cocaine
• 61.67 grams of MDMA (ecstasy)

Upon completion of the investigation, Avina-Becerra was charged Sept. 25, for the following offenses:

• Five counts, first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug
• Second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug
• First-degree promotion of a harmful drug
• First-degree promotion of a detrimental drug
• Two counts, second-degree promotions of a detrimental drug
• Two counts, second-degree commercial promotion of marijuana
• Drug paraphernalia
• No motor vehicle insurance
• Driving without a license

Avina-Becerra’s bail was set at $155,000. His initial court appearance occurred Sept. 25 in Kona District Court.