Alaska State Troopers say the overdose death of a young Houston man in early December led to a major drug bust involving a Valley heroin ring and a supplier from California.
The investigation ultimately resulted in the arrests of three Valley men and a 54-year-old female California supplier, troopers said. Authorities obtained arrest warrants for two other people indicted on drug charges but still at large.
All told, troopers served 11 search warrants resulting in the seizure of 177 grams of heroin and 8.4 grams of methamphetamine with a street value of $53,000, according to a troopers press release. They also confiscated nine firearms -- three confirmed stolen -- and $10,390 in cash.
The investigation began the morning of Dec. 1. That's when a family member found 22-year-old Michael Chalender dead of what the State Medical Examiner Office later determined was a heroin overdose, said troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters.
A day later, a Mat-Su drug unit and patrol troopers arrested 21-year-old Sawyer Gruben of Fairbanks for second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance after seizing 13.46 grams of heroin and two firearms from him as he left a Palmer home, troopers said. Gruben was jailed at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility on $1,500 bail. The home was that of 26-year-old Hiram Ducasse.
The drug unit returned to the Palmer house on Dec. 3 with a search warrant and Palmer- and Anchorage-based troopers. The team arrested Ducasse and seized 35 grams of heroin, a handgun and more than $8,200, troopers said. Ducasse's live-in girlfriend, 23-year-old Angela McCready of Wasilla, is wanted on a $50,000 warrant after she was indicted by a grand jury for second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance.
Troopers also identified three other people involved in heroin sales at that point: Samuel Hubbard, 29, of Wasilla; Michael Trudeau, 28, of Wasilla; and someone identified as "Deb" from Palm Springs, California.
The drug team on Dec. 11 served a search warrant at Hubbard's Wasilla home and seized 8.4 grams of meth, 21.7 grams of heroin, eight firearms and $2,164, troopers said. They arrested Hubbard for second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. Trudeau remains wanted on a $25,000 warrant after he was indicted.
The team learned that the out-of-state source was 54-year-old Deborah Thomas of Desert Hot Springs, California, who was flying to Alaska on Dec. 12 with heroin, troopers said. They met her at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.
Thomas had 107 grams of heroin concealed in a body cavity but removed them voluntarily when confronted, troopers said. She was arrested for second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and jailed in Anchorage in lieu of $20,000 bail.