California man to plead guilty in large Kauai meth bust

HONOLULU (AP) — A California man is expected to plead guilty Thursday in what Kauai police say resulted in the largest amount of crystal meth seized during a single bust on the island.

Steve Pete Orozco II is scheduled to withdraw his previous not-guilty plea in federal court in Honolulu. He and his cousin, Andrew J. Martinez, pleaded not guilty last week to meth distribution charges.

Orozco plans to plead guilty as indicted, said his federal public defender Craig Jerome. An indictment also charges him with possessing a stolen handgun with a scratched-off serial number.

When they were arrested in March, Kauai police said officers found 7 pounds of meth in their Hanamaulu home. “This is the largest amount of crystal methamphetamine that the department has seized in a single incident with the take down of this drug trafficking organization,” Police Chief Darryl Perry said in a statement at the time.

The meth has a street value of $1.6 million, police said.

According to a criminal complaint filed in court, Martinez told authorities that he moved to Kauai in 2006 with his girlfriend. His first-cousin, Orozco, moved in with them a few weeks before the arrest, the documents said, bringing with him a shoe box filled with gallon-sized plastic bags of crystal meth.

An informant led police to Orozco, who is from Stockton, California, the FBI said in the complaint. The informant arranged to buy meth from Orozco. Officers arrested Orozco and Martinez at the Lihue Walmart parking lot after the drug deal, according to the complaint.

During a search of their home, officers found several thousand dollars in cash and a semi-automatic handgun in a duffel bag. The serial number on the frame of the Glock 19 was completely scratched out and partially scratched out on the weapon’s slide, authorities said. Police found the drugs in nine gallon-sized plastic bags.

.