A 35-year-old facing possession charges was stopped by a courthouse guard who found a “white chalky substance.”
A man who’d been accused of trying to smuggle pounds of fentanyl from the Bay Area to sell in Hawaii told authorities he accidentally entered court last week with dope in his bag, according to prosecutors.
Joey Takeo Kainoa Arakaki, 35, was passing through security at the San Mateo County courthouse Wednesday when a search turned up three baggies of fentanyl and a used piece of foil, San Mateo District Attorney Stephen Wagstaffe said Monday.
Arakaki told deputies he had forgotten the drugs were on him, the DA’s office said. He was arrested at the courthouse for bringing contraband to jail and committing a felony while on bail, among other charges, according to sheriff’s records. He is being held on $20,000 bail and is set to return to court Tuesday, officials said.
After finding the “white chalky substance,” the courthouse guard experienced heart palpitations and light-headedness and required medical attention. He has since recovered.
Arakaki was arrested Nov. 24, when sheriff’s deputies conducting a wellness check found him and a passenger asleep in his BMW near an Arco gas station in Millbrae. Deputies reported finding 2.7 pounds of fentanyl — worth about $40,000 — inside the car, as well as a baggie of methamphetamine, a bag of mushrooms, 500 plastic baggies, and $3,500 in cash.
Arakaki, who lives in Honolulu, told deputies he had purchased the opioid in Oakland and planned to sell it in Hawaii, court records said. He was booked for possession with intent to sell, among other charges, and released on $100,000 bail.
Arakaki’s attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
The passenger in the BMW, 35-year-old Honolulu resident Jacob Lynn Ronsse, was booked on the same charges and bail amount as Arakaki but remains in custody.
Ronsse’s attorney, James Dunn, said his client had no knowledge of the fentanyl in Arakaki’s vehicle or any plan to sell it in Hawaii. Dunn said the mushrooms and cash did not belong to Ronsse but declined to comment on ownership of the methamphetamine.
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