A Hawaii deputy sheriff has been credited with helping federal authorities uncover a cocaine distribution network that reportedly was importing drugs from California to Hawaii while trying to establish an illegal gambling operation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

On Dec. 12, state Deputy Sheriff Dexter Kauahi conveyed information to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent that Marco Antonio Zamora, 46, had been traveling to Honolulu from San Francisco several times a month to smuggle drugs and sell them in Hawaii, where prices are significantly higher than on the mainland.

Zamora is a known member of a Northern California gang and has “multiple arrests for murder” but was never convicted, according to federal prosecutors. He has a 1999 conviction for selling methamphetamine and served 87 months in prison.

Zamora was arrested Nov. 16 on federal cocaine distribution charges and was confined in the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County pending extradition to Hawaii, according to a report by the Bay Area News Group.

The case started with the tip from Kauahi, a 15-year veteran of the Department of Public Safety’s Law Enforcement Division, who learned that Zamora allegedly had traveled from California with about 22 to 33 pounds of cocaine and then flew back to San Francisco with $400,000 to $500,000 to buy more drugs.

Zamora was known to stay at the Hawaiian Monarch apartments in Waikiki when in Honolulu and allegedly was using the money he earned selling drugs to retrofit a bar that was a known hangout for drug dealers into an illegal game room, according to court documents.

On Jan. 13 at about 6:13 p.m., a white Porsche pulled into the pickup area of the Hawaiian Monarch on Niu Street and met Zamora and his cousin Javier Chavez, 45, who often traveled with him. Chavez allegedly got into the Porsche with a dark-blue duffel bag and then quickly got out. The Porsche, driven by Ping Hong Lee, sped off, and at about 6:16 p.m. a task force officer turned on his siren and lights to get the sports car to pull over.

The Porsche then accelerated through heavy traffic, executing unsafe turns and other reckless maneuvers, the documents said. Because of the danger to other motorists, the officer stopped his pursuit. The Porsche was later found at the Hawaiian Monarch with Chavez and Zamora.

Chavez, of Redwood City, Calif., was arrested in February on cocaine distribution charges, according to the Bay Area News Group. Officials said Lee is also facing charges.

If convicted, Zamora is looking at a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life.

In court records, prosecutors said Zamora ostensibly works as a self-employed plumber but lives in a $3 million home in Redwood City, the Bay Area News Group reported.

In praising Kauahi’s work on the case, Jordan Lowe, deputy director of the Law Enforcement Division, said in a statement, “This is just one example of the collaboration that our Sheriff Division does on a daily basis with our federal, state and county law enforcement partners to bring about justice and keep the public safe.”