Kapolei man charged with moving more than $950K worth of drugs

The U.S. Department of Justice wants a Kapolei man held without bail after he was charged with using an assault rifle and shotgun while dealing more than $950,000 worth of cocaine, fentanyl, MDMA, cannabis and steroids.

Renato Adam Marques Jr. was charged by federal criminal complaint June 12 with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, possessing with intent to distribute cocaine and fentanyl, and being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms and ammunition.

Marques made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter on Monday.

A hearing on the government’s motion to hold Marques at the Federal Detention Center, Honolulu until trial is scheduled for Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicole Hudspeth is prosecuting the case. Marques is represented by attorney Mark S. Kawata.

On May 11, three United States Postal Service packages were mailed from Las Vegas to Marques’ residence in Kapolei, according to federal court documents.

The parcels were addressed to “Mellissa Marquez” although no one with that “legal name lives at Marques’ residence.” Law enforcement intercepted two of those parcels and searched them May 15 after securing a search warrant. The third parcel was delivered to Marques.

The two seized parcels contained a “white powdery substance, cumulatively totaling over 8,000 grams,” which field tested positive for cocaine.

Cocaine retails for about $80 a gram in Hawaii.

On May 20, postal inspectors with the United States Postal Inspection Service replaced the cocaine in one of the parcels with simulated cocaine, added a device that alerts law enforcement to the location of the parcel and when the parcel is opened, and delivered it to Marques’ Kapolei home.

Later that day, federal agents searched Marques’ residence, according to an affidavit authored by an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Inside Marques’ residence, law enforcement allegedly found the parcel with the tracking device and fake cocaine.

Agents also found the third package which allegedly held over “4,000 grams of a white powdery substance, which field tested positive for cocaine.”

Marques also allegedly had an AR-type assault rifle with a shortened 10-inch barrel, a Mossberg shotgun, and a Colt 911 pistol.

Marques was also alleged found in possession of more than 200 rounds of 5.56 mm ammunition, dozens of shotgun shells, over 50 rounds of .45 caliber ammunition, and about 100 rounds of .357 caliber ammunition.

Law enforcement also recovered about “100 grams of suspected fentanyl, 75 grams of suspected MDMA,” over 400 grams of cannabis, and suspected steroid compounds, a scale, money counter, drug packaging materials, and about $160,000 bundled in $10,000 stacks.

Marques allegedly admitted to federal agents that he had two unregistered firearms in his upstairs bedroom, which he got from people “on the street.”

Marques also told law enforcement that “third parties pay him to receive parcels for them,” which he allegedly knew contained illegal drugs, which he would “place outside his residence” for those third parties to pick up.

He also allegedly admitted to using oxycodone, cannabis and steroids.