The Department of Law Enforcement is asking the Legislature for more resources to cut off illegal fireworks.
The department wants to establish an Explosion Enforcement Section with six investigators and four staff. Currently, the Illegal Fireworks Task Force only has two narcotics enforcement investigators.
“Whenever we have a planned operation we basically rally the troops from the [Honolulu Police Department], the [Attorney General], our criminal investigation division, and sheriffs to complete that operation,” said Department of Law Enforcement Director Jordan Lowe.
“The problem with that is it's really not sustainable.”
The department also wants to expand its lab to analyze the confiscated explosive materials. The upfront cost is expected to be around $2 million.
DLE has been using the Honolulu Police Department’s lab to do its testing, but says they are overwhelmed.
In 2024, the task force was able to seize 40,000 pounds of illegal fireworks. In 2023 and into the early days of 2024, the department was able to confiscate about 187,000 pounds of fireworks.
But according to its recent report, fireworks are likely being smuggled in daily. That’s because the return on investment for smugglers is five to one. For example, if a container of fireworks costs $200,000 to ship to Hawaiʻi, it can be sold for about $1 million on the street.
Confiscating illegal fireworks is just part of the battle. Lowe told lawmakers that it costs over $1 million to dispose of 140,000 pounds of fireworks.
“There's really three recommended methods to dispose of fireworks,” he said. “It depends on the type of fireworks, like your mortar shells — you cannot burn, so we would countercharge, the other fireworks we would burn, or you function it as design.”
That’s why the department also wants violators to be responsible for the storage and disposal costs of the confiscated illegal fireworks.
Meanwhile, the department faces a significant amount of vacant positions. Lowe attributes it to low pay — sometimes $24,000 to $30,000 less than city and county police officer salaries.
