LIHUE — Police have arrested a man they say was the target of a months-long investigation into an alleged drug trafficking operation that brought methamphetamine and heroin to the island from Oregon and California.
Kauai Police Department officers pulled over Kameron Lawhead Thursday afternoon, after a woman called KPD dispatch to report he was driving near Lihue with drugs in his vehicle, according to court documents submitted by the KPD in support of Lawhead’s arrest and extended detention.
A statement by the arresting officer said a police dog was “alerted to the odor of narcotics” in Lawhead’s vehicle at the time of the arrest, and a subsequent search turned up 14.4 grams of crystal meth — an amount worth about $1,000 on the street, according to recent Drug Enforcement Administration estimates.
Lawhead was charged with promoting a dangerous drug in the second degree and is being held on $500,000 bail. He was scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon, but according to a county spokesperson, Lawhead “reported medical symptoms” in the morning and was transported to Wilcox Medical Center where he was treated and later returned to KPD custody.
The 44-year-old Kilauea resident has a criminal record that dates back over 25 years. The arresting officer’s declaration describes Lawhead as a “career criminal” and “an admitted heroin and crystal methamphetamine addict,” with a propensity for drug-related and violent crime, who has “extreme financial resources” and contacts in California, Oregon and “throughout the state of Hawaii.”
Aside from his most recent arrest, Lawhead faces a slew of charges in multiple separate cases.
After his arrest on drug-related charges in 2018, Lawhead posted bail and left Kauai for the mainland. He was picked up by Oregon State Police in October for possession of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine and a restricted weapon, according to police, who claim phone calls Lawhead made from jail in Oregon show he “was aware that he had a pending warrant and fled to Oregon on the belief that they would not extradite to Hawaii.”
Shortly after his arrest in Oregon, Lawhead posted bail and was extradited back to Kauai, where he once again bailed out and was released pending trial. His freedom was short-lived.
On Feb. 8, KPD officers arrested Lawhead for allegedly stabbing a man “as a result of an altercation related to vehicle sales/mechanical work,” according to the KPD officer’s statement, which also says Lawhead “immediately bailed out using cash that he had on his person in the amount of $10,000.”
Less than a month later, Lawhead and his girlfriend were arrested again, after KPD vice officers allegedly caught the pair with narcotics in their carry-on luggage at Lihue Airport, and at some point prior to that incident, a few grams of crystal meth were found in a sedan Lawhead was authorized to pick up from a shipping company in Lihue, according to police.
In every neighborhood on the island there’s drug dealers like him in drug houses that are connected to mainland and local drug rings.
The guy had big dollars to get out easily on several occasions. That means he has someone or an organization with huge capital to waste paper on these chronic feens.
Heroin, Meth, Coke, and opioids is a huge problem and huge money maker for the islands so it’s a win win for the criminals and the corrupt judicial system. Attorneys get easy cases and slap on the wrist plea deals and the criminals are out in no time doing the same dirt and harming the community and our families.
These parasites are in need of a waterboarding intervention.
I’ve wondered how many of these people get busted and wondered how unko, braddah, tita, aunty, pops, and tutu no get busted? The white man gets caught but the white ladies are turned into slaves for the locals. This is a true fact and people in the drug and crime game know this.
The system is broken because of greed and they know it. The Feds know this. Heck look at what’s going on in Oahu and Honolulu PD, almost every other week a cop is getting busted. Do you really think that it’s an isolated problem that only happens on Oahu?
All the islands police Depts have the same problems and all the island judicial system is tied to the same criminal problems. The underworld criminal web is intertwined with a host of characters that has no borders and no walls.
This is problematic to the infinite degree. I guarantee most of the people on this island can tell you who is dealing drugs in their neighborhoods and at public spaces. This has been known for decades so why hasn’t anything of significance been done to take them down? Money and greed for it is and always will be the answer.
Aloha Kakou,
Immediate Solution:
Fly in the Caped Man with the big logo on the back…
Do30 Man…
Drug dealers done in a second with a Bat in the Eye or swifter with greater finality.
No waste your trime with expensive lawyers, judges, bailiffs, bail bonds, court reporters, appeals, delays, volleyball at the KCCC (not an educational system)…just call Do30 Man…in the Bat of an Eye.
Warning: may not be suitable on delivery for grannies or infants who cannot handle sudden large sharp explosive noises similar to popping sounds. Not responsible for cleaning up any messes…when you call Do30 Man services to the rescue.
We specialize in whole nation’s but can do islands with one fell swoop by the caped one with the large logo…Do30 Man. No complain when Pau, you asked for it right here…Pau, over, gone, no trouble, Do30 Man cleaned it up and left back to the big chain of islands.
Salamat Du, forget the 30 lashes…Mr. Clean never could do that well.
Mahalo,
Charlie
Aloha Kakou,
It would appear drugs cause facial measles, or is it acne pimples, or is it just skittles…?
Would appear a drug test is in order…!
Charlie
He was just arrested in Corona, CA
Apparently he was the last bond Beth Chapman wrote.
This man was with my ex husband when he died. I often wonder if he killed him.