Crime & Courts

Anchorage man accused of selling heroin in Dillingham

A 37-year-old man has been indicted by an Anchorage grand jury for selling heroin in the Southwest Alaska town of Dillingham.

The Dillingham Police Department determined that on Jan. 4, Joshua Rivera sold the drug inundating communities statewide, according to the Anchorage District Attorney's Office. Police searched the house where Rivera was staying and found 12.5 grams of heroin and $19,000 cash, according to public radio station KDLG.

The radio station reported Rivera, from Anchorage, recently had flown into the fishing town of about 2,400 residents and was serving customers out of a home on Nerka Loop.

The grand jury indicted Rivera on two second-degree misconduct involving controlled substances charges, both felonies. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to the Anchorage District Attorney's Office.

Rivera is set to be arraigned on the charges in Dillingham on Thursday.

State and federal law enforcement have said heroin in Alaska and elsewhere is causing a drug epidemic. They vowed to track the drug to the dealers, particularly cases that lead to overdose deaths.

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