A key prosecution witness in the federal extortion case against former Honolulu police Maj. Carlton Nishimura will remain in custody after her arrest Friday at Honolulu Airport on a charge of possessing methamphetamine.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Chang on Wednesday ordered Doni Mei Imose Crisolo held without bail pending sentencing next year on a guilty plea in 2009 to conspiracy and other charges for her role in a methamphetamine ring.

Crisolo acknowledged that her new arrest violated the conditions of her release pending her sentencing.

In connection with her most recent arrest, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said in court documents it received an anonymous tip from a male last week who said Crisolo was going to Las Vegas on Friday. The tipster said Crisolo would be carrying a large amount of cash that she was going to use to buy methamphetamine and then return to Honolulu.

Crisolo had received court permission to fly to Las Vegas for a work conference.

When the officers stopped Imose at the airport Friday morning, the DEA said she was carrying $4,300 in cash — 35 $100 bills in a billfold and $800 in her purse. They also said a glass pipe and 9 grams of methamphetamine were found in her purse.

The DEA said Crisolo became emotional and begged the officers for a break after they found the pipe. The DEA said Crisolo told the officers that the methamphetamine is hers and that she had smoked some that morning.

Nishimura is charged with conspiring with Crisolo to extort money from Crisolo’s ex-husband to protect the ex-husband’s illegal gambling operation and to harass his competitors. Nishimura is also facing charges that he lied to investigators, asked Crisolo to lie for him, failed to report the extortion money as income and possessed methamphetamine.

His trial is scheduled for March.

As a condition of her pre-sentence release, Crisolo was prohibited from traveling outside Hawaii without court approval.

U.S. District Chief Judge Susan Oki Mollway had approved Crisolo’s travel to Las Vegas for Nov. 23-30 to attend a data processing conference related to her job.

Crisolo attended a similar conference in Las Vegas last November with court approval.