Kona man indicted after joint drug and firearm investigation

A parked vehicle on Ali‘i Drive led investigators to cocaine, methamphetamine, a loaded pistol and high-capacity magazines, turning a Kona drug case into a broader public-safety concern for West Hawaii. The indictment of 45-year-old Luis Pagano Colon of Kailua-Kona shows how quickly a narcotics investigation can escalate when firearms are found alongside trafficking quantities of drugs.

Hawaii Police Department said Vice West officers executed the search warrant at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, 2026, at a business on Ali‘i Drive in Kailua-Kona with help from Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police said the vehicle search produced 133.07 grams of cocaine, 31.48 grams of methamphetamine, a firearm with a magazine containing 13 live rounds, shotgun shells and additional live ammunition. Officers also seized more than $2,700 for asset forfeiture.

Police said a related residence yielded 1,740 grams of marijuana. Big Island Now later reported that officers recovered a loaded 9mm Taurus GX2 pistol, a second high-capacity magazine and a .40 caliber Glock pistol with three high-capacity magazines, including two 50-round drum magazines, from a Dodge Challenger parked in the residence’s driveway.

The charges now facing Colon reflect how seriously prosecutors and investigators viewed the mix of drugs and guns. The indictment includes three counts of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, first-degree promotion of a detrimental drug, second-degree commercial promotion of marijuana, ownership or possession prohibited, two counts of ownership prohibited involving high-capacity magazines, place to keep ammunition, place to keep pistol or revolver, carrying or possessing a loaded firearm on a public highway and possession of a firearm with intent to facilitate the commission of a felony drug offense.

That last count is the most serious, a class A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. First-degree promotion of a dangerous drug is also a class A felony, underscoring the stakes once investigators say trafficking-level narcotics and firearms are tied together. For Kona, the case signals the kind of enforcement priority now shaping the west side: not just street-level drug arrests, but coordinated cases that combine county vice work with federal support when weapons, cash and larger drug quantities are involved.

Colon’s bail was initially set at $288,000 and later reduced to $150,000, which was posted. He appeared in Kona Circuit Court on May 13 for a return on the indictment warrant, and a jury trial was scheduled for Sept. 8, 2026.