HONOLULU -- Honolulu police and prosecutors Saturday beefed up their new drive to get drug dealers out of Chinatown.

Downtown residents joined the effort, saying they were frustrated and angry about illicit drug dealers scaring their children and elderly neighbors.

Police said that for decades they have had a difficult time catching drug dealers on North Pauhi Street because the dealing is obscured by parked cars.

"If we remove the area from which they do business, which is parking stalls, we are hopeful law-abiding traffic can come in and use Chinatown the way its meant to be -- to be enjoyed," deputy prosecutor Cecelia Chang said.

This week, the city removed metered parking places on Pauhi Street and turned the area into a full-time no parking, no standing or unloading zone.

"It is going to make it so much easier for officers who patrol up and down the streets to see," Honolulu Sgt. Larry Santos said.

The pilot project will last 45 days, officials said.

Chinatown residents turned out in force Saturday to support the drug-busting effort.

"We don't like drugs in our community," resident Diane Ronquillo said.

Ronquillo, her husband and two young children live in an apartment on River and Pauahi streets.

She said she is tired of hearing drug dealers every night argue, swear and fight.

"We want a peaceful and loving neighborhood," Farrington High School student Nadine Pilande said.

High school students in blue uniforms, who are considering law enforcement careers, also joined in.

"We just want to make people aware of what's going on here and how there are the drug dealers," Pearl City High School student Shauna Macion said.

The students are in the city's Law Enforcement Explorers Program.

"I am concerned because I come through town kind of often with the explorers, and at night we drive through here, and it is kind of scary," Macion said.

If the pilot project works and the drug activity in the area is curtailed, police and community leaders said the parking places could be taken away permanently.

But while many said they hope the city will permanently remove the parking places on Pauahi Street to discourage drug dealing, some Chinatown merchants said they are worried that the lack of parking will hurt their business.

They said parking in Chinatown is already hard enough for their customers to find.