Leprosy Patient Arrested for Trafficking Meth
Kalaupapa's youngest Hansen's disease patient Norbert K. Palea has been charged with attempting to smuggle crystal meth onto the island of Molokai from Honolulu while on a state-sponsored visit.
Palea, who arrived at Honolulu airport in a state car, paid $24 to ship a box to the island of Molokai where Kalaupapa is situated. According to the report, 18 grams of methamphetamine were found inside the box.
Palea is said to have first been sent to the Kalaupapa settlement at the age of five, when a doctor misdiagnosed a mosquito bite as Hansen's disease. Though he was initially sent back home, he later contracted the disease and returned.
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