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Anchorage - Tips and complaints from neighbors led Alaska State Troopers to seize nearly $29,000 worth of marijuana and $17,000 cash from a home in a Bering Sea village.
Troopers raided the home Tuesday in Quinhagak, a community of about 600 people 71 miles southwest of Bethel.
Charges are pending against four adults as a result of the bust, troopers said. Three children, including an 18-month-old, were taken into protective custody after the raid.
Seizing more than a pound of pot in a rural village was not a surprise to troopers, said Investigator Joseph Hazelaar. Pot confiscation in rural Alaska has risen in recent years, in part because of greater alcohol interdiction efforts.
Confiscation nearly doubled from 2002 to 2004, when troopers nabbed nearly 50 pounds.
A reward program for tips is responsible for some of the calls, they say. But in many villages, people are tired of having drug dealers and bootleggers in their midst. That appears to be the case in Quinhagak, Hazelaar said.
"The Quinhagak police got quite a few calls on this family," he said. "Basically their residence was the central hub for other Quinhagak residents to frequent for marijuana."
Over the last few months, village officers logged enough complaints and tips to establish grounds for a search warrant.
On Tuesday afternoon, the troopers' Western Alaska Area Narcotics Team flew in and raided the house.
They found $17,020 in cash, plus 575 grams of pot, individually packaged, Hazelaar said. At $50 a gram, troopers said, that's almost $29,000 worth.
Source: Daily News-Miner
https://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2658062,00.html
Troopers raided the home Tuesday in Quinhagak, a community of about 600 people 71 miles southwest of Bethel.
Charges are pending against four adults as a result of the bust, troopers said. Three children, including an 18-month-old, were taken into protective custody after the raid.
Seizing more than a pound of pot in a rural village was not a surprise to troopers, said Investigator Joseph Hazelaar. Pot confiscation in rural Alaska has risen in recent years, in part because of greater alcohol interdiction efforts.
Confiscation nearly doubled from 2002 to 2004, when troopers nabbed nearly 50 pounds.
A reward program for tips is responsible for some of the calls, they say. But in many villages, people are tired of having drug dealers and bootleggers in their midst. That appears to be the case in Quinhagak, Hazelaar said.
"The Quinhagak police got quite a few calls on this family," he said. "Basically their residence was the central hub for other Quinhagak residents to frequent for marijuana."
Over the last few months, village officers logged enough complaints and tips to establish grounds for a search warrant.
On Tuesday afternoon, the troopers' Western Alaska Area Narcotics Team flew in and raided the house.
They found $17,020 in cash, plus 575 grams of pot, individually packaged, Hazelaar said. At $50 a gram, troopers said, that's almost $29,000 worth.
Source: Daily News-Miner
https://www.news-miner.com/Stories/0,1413,113~7244~2658062,00.html
