Alaska News

Police: Man arrested trying to take $8,000 of pot, booze to Nuiqsut

North Slope Borough police officers arrested a 21-year-old bootlegger Friday they say was trying to sneak more than $8,000 of alcohol and pot to the village of Nuiqsut.

Fairbanks resident Gary Dixon, 21, was arrested at the Fairbanks International Airport after borough police officers stationed there seized his luggage and searched it with a warrant, according to a release from the department. They allegedly found the equivalent of nearly three gallons of rum, four gallons of vodka and 5.6 grams of marijuana.

Police say alcohol is sold at a premium in villages and estimated the value of the confiscated booze at $7,722. They estimated the "street value" of the marijuana at $420.

Nuiqsut, a village of about 450 people 35 miles from the Beaufort Sea, bans the importation and sale of alcohol.

Dixon is being charged with importing alcohol into a local option community, transporting alcohol by common carrier and misconduct involving a controlled substance in the sixth degree.

Reach Michelle Theriault Boots at mtheriault@adn.com or 257-4344.

By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS

mtheriault@adn.com

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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