Twenty-one members of a cult called Carbon Nation who were arrested for violating the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine told officials Friday they planned to relocate to Hawaii and wouldn’t accept flight assistance home.

Jessica Lani Rich, president and CEO of the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, said the nonprofit had made flight arrangements through its COVID-19 Flight Assistance Program to send the quarantine-breakers back to Los Angeles but was told to stand down.

“The visitors said they came here to relocate to Hawaii and plan to stay after they are released from jail,” said Rich, who manages the Hawaii Tourism Authority-funded assistance program, which was formed April 6 as part of the state’s quarantine enforcement crackdown.

So far it has assisted 83 people with flight arrangements. Rich said arrangements are still pending for another two quarantine violators who weren’t part of the cult.

Rich said members of Carbon Nation arrived in Hawaii around June 8. She doesn’t know how members of the religious cult, which hails from Los Angeles, got past the state’s enhanced quarantine screening. However, police said the address where some of the individuals were arrested did not match the one they declared to officials upon arrival in the state.

Tylea Fuhrmann is the 42-year-old owner of the Pikake Street residence in the Fern Forest subdivision of Puna where some Carbon Nation members were arrested and charged for violating Hawaii island Mayor Harry Kim’s order prohibiting the operation of short-term vacation rentals, which have been deemed nonessential. Her bail is set at $2,000.

Hawaii Police Department Lt. Rio Amon-Wilkins said Fuhrmann and the 21 visitors remained in police custody Friday and wouldn’t be released until they posted bail, which was set at $2,000 for those who had one charge and $4,000 for those with two charges.

“The next court date has been set for June 24 and June 25,” Amon-Wilkins said. “This is the biggest group of quarantine violators that we’ve apprehended. A lot of local people were outraged by what they saw.”

On Wednesday afternoon, police arrested five men and three women at a Pikake Street residence. On Thursday morning, they arrested 13 more, including six females and seven males, at a home on Railroad Avenue in the Hawaiian Paradise Park subdivision of Puna.

Rich said Carbon Nation leader Eligio Bishop — who refers to himself as “God” and “Natureboy” — was among those arrested and charged after police followed up on social media posts and tips from the public. In addition, some of those arrested were observed at a beach park in Hilo the same day they arrived.

Rich said news reports show that Carbon Nation, which has its own YouTube channel, was previously booted out of Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama.

“They are a religious cult known for polygamy and nudism,” she said.

The state’s mandatory quarantine for all passengers arriving in Hawaii from out of state has been in place since March 26. Despite the quarantine, hundreds of visitors have been arriving by air daily since then.

HTA reported Friday that 568 visitors were among the 1,655 passengers who came to Hawaii on Thursday. Visitors made up about 34% of the passenger count.

Also arriving on the 19 flights that came into Hawaii on Thursday were 375 residents and 98 people who said they were relocating to Hawaii. Some 173 airline crew members were in the count along with 161 transit passengers. There were 202 military members and 78 people who were exempt from the quarantine.

Given that tourism lockdowns still exist, it’s unclear why daily visitor counts are rising. Rich has said most of the visitors she has assisted in getting home knew about the quarantine but didn’t intend to honor it.

That’s concerning to government officials, given the quarantine remains the state’s main way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 as more visitors enter Hawaii and more locals begin traveling.

Violation of the quarantine is considered a misdemeanor punishable by up to a $5,000 fine or one year in prison.

Even so, visitor counts have topped 400 a day since June 1, when Gov. David Ige announced he would lift the interisland quarantine on June 16. The out-of-state quarantine remains in effect through July 31.

Most of Thursday’s visitor arrivals, some 479, came to Oahu; however, 38 visitors went to Maui and 51 were bound for Kona.

A state travel declaration form filled out by 464 of the 479 Oahu visitors does provide some insight into the purpose of their trips. As many as 82% said they were coming to visit family and friends, 8% came for business, 18% for vacation and 5% to relocate to Hawaii.

The percentages don’t add up to 100% because visitors can chose more than one purpose for coming to Hawaii.