Crime & Courts

4 arrested in Kodiak drug raid that netted heroin and meth

Four people were arrested in Kodiak early Sunday morning after home raids in which drugs with an estimated street value of $74,000 were seized, police said.

Kodiak police with support from the FBI and U.S. Coast Guard investigations served search warrants on three residences on Sunday, according to a statement from the Kodiak Police Department.

Their efforts reportedly resulted in seizure of 120 grams of heroin and 146 grams of methamphetamine. In addition, more than $23,000 in cash and nine firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun and an "armor piercing" assault pistol, were seized, the statement says.

Joseph Garcia, 27, Danielle Juarez, 33, and Virginia Andrewvitch and Wayne Buck, both 36, have been arrested on felony drug and weapon charges, police said.

Police had previous drug-offense interactions with some of those arrested, said Kodiak Police Chief Ronda Wallace.

She said police have yet to get ahead of the flow of drugs to the island community.

"I'd say it remains a big problem. I feel we do make strides in our investigations," Wallace said. "However, it's such an issue, not just in Kodiak but all over Alaska and down in the Lower 48, that once we make arrests somebody else quickly replaces those individuals."

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According to the Alaska State Troopers' most recent annual drug report, Kodiak police reported seizing more methamphetamine than any other drug.

The police chief said heroin is now as prevalent as meth, if not more common. She credited doctors' increasing scrutiny of prescription drugs as the cause of the rise in heroin sales and use.

"(Heroin) is the replacement for pills," Wallace said.

Jerzy Shedlock

Jerzy Shedlock is a former reporter for Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2017.

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