A 58-year-old Honolulu woman faces federal charges after she allegedly admitted to selling pounds of methamphetamine out of her Honolulu home and to customers on Kauai.
Phitsmai Khamkhay is charged with selling more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. She allegedly made at least three sales to a confidential source working for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2022 out of a house on Awaawaloa Street.
Khamkhay is scheduled for a detention hearing Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Wes Reber Porter. She is in custody at the Federal Detention Center Honolulu.
Starting in April 2022, DEA agents began an investigation of Khamkhay based on information provided by a DEA confidential source referred to in federal court records as “CS-1.”
The source pleaded guilty to federal drug charges, is awaiting sentencing and cooperated with the DEA in the hope that it helps with
a reduction in punishment.
In April, May and June 2022, Khamkhay arranged for the sale of approximately 680 grams of methamphetamine. During one transaction she stashed the drugs in a pair of black shorts, and during another she used a reusable shopping bag.
As part of the federal investigation, DEA agents recorded phone calls between Khamkhay and the confidential source.
They gave “CS-1” money, and surveillance equipment to use when entering Khamkhay’s home.
The footage captured during the drug sales set up by the DEA allegedly show the source entering and exiting Khamkhay’s home. In one of the transactions, in June 2022, Khamkhay is allegedly recorded offering the DEA source a glass
pipe packed with crystal methamphetamine while making a $2,500 transaction in her bedroom.
The source told DEA agents that they observed “pounds of methamphetamine on a small table” next to Khamkhay’s bed.
During an interview with law enforcement, Khamkhay allegedly admitted that on “several occasions, she purchased multiple pounds of methamphetamine from numerous individuals on Oahu and distributed multiple pounds of methamphetamine to numerous individuals on Oahu and Kauai,” according to federal court records.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tom Muehleck and Rebecca A. Perlmutter.
