Earlier this month, Seldovia Police Chief Andy Anderson arrested two teens in a string of burglaries. That investigation continues.
Last week, the Alaska Interdiction Task Force -- a joint group made up of Alaska State Troopers, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Anchorage Police Department, the Anchorage Airport Police and the National Guard Counter Drug Support Program -- worked with U.S. postal inspectors and Chief Anderson to investigate three shipments of drugs made from Seldovia.
The packages, mailed from the Seldovia Post Office, contained 20 grams of marijuana and 11 tablets of methadone.
Methadone is a synthetically manufactured drug used as a substitute for the treatment of people dependent on heroin and other drugs. Its effects last much longer than heroin, with a single dose remaining for up to 24 hours, compared with just a few hours for heroin. In treatment programs, methadone is usually distributed in syrup form.
The investigation is ongoing, and charges have been forwarded to the Kenai district attorney. Calls to the drug investigation unit of the troopers were not immediately returned to the Homer News.
Sgt. Jim Hibpshman of the Alaska State Troopers said the troopers were contacted by the postal inspector, who said the Interdiction Force planned to intercede the package and follow up on it.
"I don't know how these packages were determined to contain drugs, but it usually happens one of two ways," he said. "One, someone calls and tells them. Two, it smells so bad that postal workers can't help but notice."
Anderson said he was happy to work with the drug force.
"They contacted me, let me know what was going on and asked if I could assist," he said. "All I did, really, was transport them around and introduce them. I took some photos and e-mailed them to them."
Anderson said that at least three Seldovia residents were involved in the investigation, but he did not know how many, if any, were considered suspects.
"Like anyplace else, we have people who abuse drugs here," he said. "We know there's pot here, but the methadone was a surprise. That's not easy to get."
During the course of his investigation into the forcible entries and thefts, Anderson found at least three more burglaries, he said.
Two of them were residential break-ins, and one a forced entry at a business.
To date, about half the stolen items have been recovered. Two .38-caliber sidearms have yet to be recovered.
"People aren't volunteering much," Anderson said. "Everybody wants to protect their buddies, or they're not sure where the line is and if they were involved or not, so they don't want to say too much. You have to have them back in three or four times and ask all the right questions.
"But we're making progress," he said. "The investigation continues."
Chris Bernard can be reached at cbernard@homernews.com.
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