9-30-24 Kealakekua Man Arrested and Charged for Traffic and Drug Offenses; Six Pounds of Drugs Recovered

Hawai‘i Police Department
Area II Vice Acting Lieutenant Grad Elarionoff
Phone: (808) 326-4646, Ext. 311
Report No.: 24-087450

Media Release

Hawai‘i Island police arrested and charged a 29-year-old Kealakekua man with traffic and drug offenses following a single-vehicle car crash in Kailua-Kona in the early morning hours of Monday, September 23, 2024. Area II Vice detectives recovered more than six pounds of marijuana, cocaine, and other drugs as part of the investigation.

At 1:35 a.m. on Monday, September 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 1,176 grams (2.59 pounds) of marijuana and 727 grams (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 Wednesday, September 25, they recovered an additional:

• 225.3 grams (.5 pound) of marijuana
• 43 grams marijuana concentrate
• 658.9 grams (1.45 pounds) of cocaine
• 61.67 grams of MDMA (Ecstacy)

Upon completion of the investigation, Avina-Becerra was charged September 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 license

Avina-Becerra’s bail was set at $155,000 with his initial court appearance was on on Wednesday, September 25, in Kona District Court.