Nome, AK — The Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit (SDEU) in Nome, The Postal Inspection Service, Nome Alaska State Troopers, and Nome Police Department conducted a controlled delivery on Tuesday, Mar. 5 of a parcel that had contained approximately 184 grams of cocaine shipped from California to Nome.
The controlled delivery stemmed from a concentrated and focused effort between Nome SDEU and the Anchorage Office of the US Postal Inspection Service into the distribution of narcotics into Nome and the Norton Sound Region as a whole from source states in the contiguous US.
The trafficking of illicit drugs to Alaska presents obvious distribution hurdles, but according to one Alaska State Trooper Commander, Cpt Mike Zweifel of AST A Detachment, narcotics distributors are still finding ways to get their product into the state.
“It’s growing,” said Cpt Zweifel. “I can tell you that fentanyl importation is a big problem. We’ve been battling it and if you look at our most recent drug seizure report that’s available on our website, in 2021 we seized less than 1 kilo of fentanyl, and in 2022 I think we seized 27 kilos.”
In the Nome sting operation, the drug in question was cocaine, however, not one of the synthetic drugs growing in proliferation. Nevertheless, the issue of synthetic drugs is becoming a more dangerous issue year over year, as evidenced by Zweifel’s comments.
The controlled delivery operation in Nome led to the arrest of Joanne Stickel, age 63 of Nome. Stickel was arrested and charged with Misconduct Involving Controlled Substances in the 3rd Degree, a class B felony, for possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. She was remanded into the Anvil Mountain Correctional Center without bail pending arraignment.
The 184 grams of cocaine seized in this investigation has an estimated Nome street value of approximately $27, 600; as cocaine in Nome typically sells for $150.00 per gram.
The investigation is ongoing.