Twenty Fairbanks storage units were broken into over the weekend, including one containing dozens of firearms, police said.
The break-ins were the latest in a rash of similar break-ins this month, with 34 cases reported since Oct. 1, said officer Doug Welborn, a Fairbanks Police Department spokesperson.
"It is bad right now," Welborn said. "Tens of thousands of dollars of firearms, tools, sporting equipment" have been stolen from four storage facilities in the city, he said.
The most recent break-ins occurred sometime between Saturday and Monday at Alaska Mini Storage.
About 40 firearms were reported stolen from one of the 20 units, "one of the larger stolen-firearm cases that we've taken," Welborn said. The case was being investigated by the property crimes unit, he said.
Welborn said there are "a lot of stolen firearms all of a sudden on the road."
Stolen firearms can end up in the wrong hands, Welborn said, and have been "recently used to commit crimes," including shootings. He declined to specify further.
Pawnshops, where stolen firearms often wind up, were being alerted, Welborn said. Some storage facilities were increasing security and surveillance, he said.
In each case, the storage unit lock was broken, Welborn said. Sometimes the broken lock had been replaced, giving the appearance that the unit was still secure.
A rash of storage unit break-ins occurred in the spring, Welborn said, then died down over the summer before picking up again in the autumn. Alaska State Troopers in the Fairbanks North Star Borough are handling additional cases, he said.