Alaska News

Morphine, codeine stolen from Northwest Alaska health clinic

Alaska State Troopers say five people have been arrested after 106 preparations of morphine and codeine were stolen from a village health clinic in Northwest Alaska.

At about 8:30 a.m. Sept. 12, troopers in Nome received a report of a burglary at the Shishmaref Clinic operated by the Norton Sound Health Corp. Troopers traveled about 126 miles north to Shishmaref and determined that three 15-year-olds and one 18-year-old had broken into the clinic using tools they had stolen earlier from the Shishmaref School, according to an dispatch posted online Monday by troopers.

An administrator from the school confirmed that a crowbar had been stolen.

At the clinic, troopers said, the group broke two doors and a cabinet and left with the medication.

Troopers arrested four suspects and another man who they say is tied to the burglary. The three juvenile boys, unidentified by troopers, were taken to the Nome Youth Facility and held on charges of burglary, theft and misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Ned Ahgupuk, 18, and Ryan Nayokpuk, 18, were taken to Anvil Mountain Correctional Center in Nome, troopers said. According to court records, Ahgupuk faces charges of burglary, misconduct involving a controlled substance, theft and criminal mischief. Nayokpuk faces charges of burglary, theft and misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Megan Peters, a troopers spokeswoman, said she could not immediately provide additional details about the burglaries until the trooper in Nome returned to the office on Wednesday. Monica Watchman, spokesperson for the Norton Sound Health Corp., did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

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