The victim of a kidnapping and killing in Kane'ohe was shipping crystal methamphetamine and cocaine into Hawai'i in hollowed-out DVD players and stereo equipment, and had drawn the attention of the FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration, according to law enforcement officials.

Benjamin Grajeda, 27, of North Hollywood, Calif., was not under investigation but was a "person of interest" to FBI and DEA agents assigned to investigate local narcotics rings.

Before the shooting, both agencies had received information from informants and cooperating defendants that indicated Grajeda was shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of crystal methamphetamine, known on the street as ice, and cocaine into O'ahu from Los Angeles with the help of an employee of an express delivery service, according to law enforcement officials who asked not to be named, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

A search of Grajeda's apartment after his death yielded several stereo and DVD player shells and receipts for hundreds of thousands of dollars in money orders, the officials said.

The DEA received a tip that Grajeda was smuggling drugs into the state, but agents were unable to substantiate the claims, according to the law enforcement officials.

The man who allegedly killed Grajeda, Jerrico Dewon Lindsey, also was a "person of interest" to police and federal agents, and was alleged to be a member of a Maui drug ring that regularly imported and distributed crystal methamphetamine, according to the law enforcement officials.

Lindsey, however, is not now part of an ongoing federal investigation, the officials said.

"I don't believe my client is under investigation by any other government agency," said attorney William Harrison, who is representing Lindsey.

FBI Special Agent Anthony K. Lang declined comment and forwarded all questions to the Ho-nolulu Police Department. A police spokesperson declined comment yesterday.

Grajeda was thrown in the trunk of a car by three men who burst into his Kane'ohe home on May 14. He escaped, but was then shot 16 times with a MAC-10 machine pistol as he lay in the middle of Kane'ohe Bay Drive.

Officers are still searching for a third man known only as "Pig Wig" who is believed to have been with Lindsey and Freeman the night of the shooting. Police said a man who was picked up on Maui for questioning in connection with the shooting was not the third man.

Lindsey, 26, the accused gunman, is to be tried on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree terroristic threatening, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, possession of a prohibited firearm, possession of prohibited ammunition and illegal storage of a firearm.

A second-degree murder conviction can bring a life sentence with the possibility of parole.

Charles Lee Freeman Jr., 35, who told police he drove the getaway car, will be tried on charges of kidnapping and hindering prosecution.

Both men are in custody in lieu of $3 million bail.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.