Five pounds of meth seized, two people arrested in Ketchikan, Haines

Packages of drugs mailed to communities have a combined street value of about $365,960, according to JPD

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

About five pounds of methamphetamine being mailed in packages was seized in separate drug busts in Ketchikan and Haines during the past week, according to the Juneau Police Department.

Law enforcement officials on Oct. 28 intercepted a suspicious package being shipped to Ketchikan that contained 2056.8 grams (about 4.5 pounds) of methamphetamine, according to a JPD information release. The package was delivered on Nov. 1 to a residence where Adidas Nike Zion Brown, 33, a Louisiana resident who was arrested on five drug charges, plus two weapons charges due to a weapon seized from the home.

The Haines arrest occurred after two suspicious packages were identified on Oct. 27 and Nov. 4, according to a second information release from JPD. The packages were picked up by Austin Elmer Benedict Hotch, 30, a Haines resident who was arrested after taking the package to a residence.

Officials seized 235 grams of methamphetamine (about half a pound) and about $24,000 in cash, according to the second JPD release. Hotch was arrested on a charge of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, a class B felony.

The drugs from the two arrests had a combined street value of about $365,960, the releases note.

The investigations and arrests were conducted by the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force, "comprised of municipal police departments from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Petersburg, Hoonah, Wrangell, Craig, and Yakutat, the Alaska State Troopers, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Coast Guard Investigative Service," according to JPD.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.