A man smoking a cigarette on a Chinatown sidewalk last month is now facing a federal weapons charge after police say the encounter unraveled into the discovery of a 9mm ghost gun, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine. Derrick Anthony Wendell Perreira, 46, has 16 prior state convictions, including six felonies for drugs, domestic violence and escape, according to court records tied to the case.
The saga began on August 25, when Honolulu Police Department officers spotted Perreira smoking near College Walk and North Kukui Street, an area where signage explicitly prohibits smoking by law, as reported by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. That stretch of Chinatown was identified in a 2024 public notice as part of a corridor where the city would install dozens of overt surveillance cameras, including one specifically monitoring the intersection where Perreira was standing, according to a Honolulu Police Department public notice. Officers reported seeing him holding a medium-sized plastic bag containing a whitish powder, and when they searched him, he allegedly dropped two bags of white powder and rocks, per the same account.
Lab testing on those two bags found roughly 2.68 grams of fentanyl in one and about 3.52 grams in the other, the station's report states. Fentanyl sells for between $9,500 and $13,000 per kilogram in Hawaii, while cocaine fetches between $15,500 and $28,000 per kilogram, according to Drug Enforcement Administration pricing cited in the case.
A Second Stop Turns Up a Ghost Gun
The case escalated further on September 4, when an HPD officer transporting Perreira reportedly heard a thud from the rear passenger area of the vehicle, per the article. The officer had found no weapons or drugs on Perreira during the initial search, but then saw him bending toward the floorboard and later discovered a black pistol magazine holding seven rounds of ammunition that had fallen from his pants onto the roadway.
Officers also spotted a black pistol resting on the rear driver-side edge of the bench seat and seized it — a 9mm handgun with no serial number or manufacturer markings, classifying it as a ghost gun. Perreira later waived his rights and admitted the pistol belonged to him, the outlet reports.
HPD had obtained and executed a state search warrant on August 26, before the September 4 transport, for Perreira's blue bag and backpack. A drug-detecting K9 also flagged illegal drugs in Perreira's backpack. Inside, police reported finding nine ziploc bags containing a white rock-like substance resembling crack cocaine, two bags of suspected methamphetamine, eight bags of a green leafy substance purported to be cannabis, two digital scales and numerous empty ziploc bags. Laboratory results for the suspected methamphetamine remain pending, according to federal court records cited in the reporting.
Admissions and a Lengthy Criminal History
Perreira admitted to selling fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and cannabis, according to the Star-Advertiser's account of the case. His criminal record includes a five-year prison sentence for domestic violence handed down in 2011, part of a broader history of 16 state convictions.
Federal law bars felons from possessing firearms or ammunition under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Perreira now faces one federal charge of being a felon in possession of ammunition. Separately, Hawaii law makes it a Class C felony for certain unlicensed people to possess, purchase or obtain unserialized receivers or firearm parts for assembly under HRS § 134-10.2, which cites 2020 Act 74, according to Justia Law.
HPD arrested Perreira on suspicion of multiple drug, firearm and ammunition offenses. He made his initial appearance in federal court Friday, and federal prosecutors have filed a motion to hold him without bail until trial, arguing he cannot be trusted to appear for court dates and poses a danger to the community. His detention hearing is scheduled for today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii, according to federal court calendar records.
Chinatown's Ongoing Fight Against Drugs and Guns
The case adds to a string of enforcement efforts in a neighborhood that has struggled with open drug dealing and disorder for years. Mayor Rick Blangiardi appealed directly to Taiwan's government in a March letter to redevelop or demolish the aging Chinatown Cultural Plaza; the report describes crime, vacancies and deterioration around the plaza. Police have also leaned on technology, launching a Drone as First Responder pilot program in August 2026 that provides aerial tracking across District 1, which covers Chinatown, Downtown Honolulu, Ala Moana and Kakaʻako.
Even as violent crime trends show some improvement — reported aggravated assaults on Oahu dropped nearly 20% between 2021 and 2025 — illegal firearms and drug enforcement remain a priority for police in the neighborhood. Hawaii was historically the only U.S. state that had not reported fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills in street drug seizures as of early 2020, according to the DEA's National Drug Threat Assessment, underscoring how sharply the synthetic opioid crisis has since taken hold statewide.
