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'Explosion' of heroin traffic leads to more drugs seized by Juneau police
Chris Klint,
Feb 06, 2015
ANCHORAGE -
vid-Drugs SeizedDrug seizures by Juneau police rose 700 percent for heroin and 500 percent for methamphetamine during 2014, with $5.8 million in drugs seized by officers over the course of the year.
Heroin and meth seizures topped $4.65 million and $635,446 respectively based on local street value, according to a Juneau Police Department statement on the previous year’s drug cases. Seizures of the prescription drugs Oxycontin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Vicodin were down 75 percent over the same period, totaling $14,240 for the year.
The overall numbers are a sharp jump from similar statistics for 2013, when just under $1.16 million in total drugs were seized. That year, heroin accounted for about $800,000 of the total with meth making up just $83,200.
Juneau police spokeswoman Lt. Kris Sell said Friday that much -- but not all -- of the rise in drug traffic is due to transshipment of drugs, rather than local drug usage.
“According to our drug officers, it would appear to be an explosion of heroin,” Sell said. “We’ve had cases where we’re collecting larger amounts of drugs, including airport seizures in the half-pound range.”
Sell said that heroin’s low Juneau street price of $100 for a typical “point,” or a tenth of a gram, was likely responsible for last year’s remarkable drop in prescription-drug seizures.
“Heroin’s cheaper -- a lot cheaper -- than prescription drugs in Juneau,” Sell said. “People use what they have.”
According to Sell, thieves hoping to acquire a kilogram of heroin were behind one of the capital’s higher-profile drug cases, which began as a $41,000 jewelry burglary on Sept. 17 at the local Costco warehouse store. Joseph John Finn, 31, was arrested the following month on charges of first-degree theft and second-degree burglary in the case.
Finn and Daricka Clark, 29, were charged with second-degree misconduct involving controlled substances based on drugs they had with them at the time of Finn’s arrest, according to police.
Sell said the scheme was derailed by inside information Juneau police discovered in the case, with officers recovering about $32,000 of the stolen jewelry.
continued here http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/explo...o-more-drugs-seized-by-juneau-police/31136104
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Those are some really significant increases.
Chris Klint,
Feb 06, 2015
ANCHORAGE -
vid-Drugs SeizedDrug seizures by Juneau police rose 700 percent for heroin and 500 percent for methamphetamine during 2014, with $5.8 million in drugs seized by officers over the course of the year.
Heroin and meth seizures topped $4.65 million and $635,446 respectively based on local street value, according to a Juneau Police Department statement on the previous year’s drug cases. Seizures of the prescription drugs Oxycontin, oxycodone, hydrocodone, and Vicodin were down 75 percent over the same period, totaling $14,240 for the year.
The overall numbers are a sharp jump from similar statistics for 2013, when just under $1.16 million in total drugs were seized. That year, heroin accounted for about $800,000 of the total with meth making up just $83,200.
Juneau police spokeswoman Lt. Kris Sell said Friday that much -- but not all -- of the rise in drug traffic is due to transshipment of drugs, rather than local drug usage.
“According to our drug officers, it would appear to be an explosion of heroin,” Sell said. “We’ve had cases where we’re collecting larger amounts of drugs, including airport seizures in the half-pound range.”
Sell said that heroin’s low Juneau street price of $100 for a typical “point,” or a tenth of a gram, was likely responsible for last year’s remarkable drop in prescription-drug seizures.
“Heroin’s cheaper -- a lot cheaper -- than prescription drugs in Juneau,” Sell said. “People use what they have.”
According to Sell, thieves hoping to acquire a kilogram of heroin were behind one of the capital’s higher-profile drug cases, which began as a $41,000 jewelry burglary on Sept. 17 at the local Costco warehouse store. Joseph John Finn, 31, was arrested the following month on charges of first-degree theft and second-degree burglary in the case.
Finn and Daricka Clark, 29, were charged with second-degree misconduct involving controlled substances based on drugs they had with them at the time of Finn’s arrest, according to police.
Sell said the scheme was derailed by inside information Juneau police discovered in the case, with officers recovering about $32,000 of the stolen jewelry.
continued here http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/explo...o-more-drugs-seized-by-juneau-police/31136104
.........................................................................................................................
Those are some really significant increases.
