Troopers launch raids in Bethel bootlegging investigation

BETHEL – Alaska State Troopers — with help from the FBI and Bethel police — raided homes and businesses Tuesday as part of what the agency called "a large scale investigation into the illegal alcohol sales and distribution by local companies within the city of Bethel."

Troopers say the investigation began in December by the Bethel office of the agency's Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team, or WAANT.

Search warrants were executed Tuesday in Bethel, troopers said. Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters said there were not any immediate arrests.

Asked whether the investigation also involved suspected heroin sales, Peters pointed to the troopers log, which only referenced "illegal alcohol." Troopers were releasing few details.

Cab companies owned and run by Korean-born people were targeted, company owners and drivers said in interviews.

The owners of Quyana Cab, Alaska Cab and Taxi Cab all said they don't sell drugs or alcohol and are upset that troopers searched their homes, businesses and cars. Another cab company, Kusko Cab, which is not owned by Koreans, was not targeted, a representative said.

On Facebook, Bethel residents were applauding the searches as a long overdue crackdown on bootlegging. At public meetings over whether to allow a liquor store, some residents said they supported it as a way to curb bootlegging and singled out cab drivers as culprits.

But now Bethel has legal sales. Its first liquor store in four decades opened last month, and a pizza place also now serves beer and wine. Troopers haven't addressed why they are investigating the problem now.

Many of the search warrants were executed in the neighborhood off Chief Eddie Hoffman Highway known simply as Trailer Court.

At one point mid-afternoon, troopers were seen pounding on the door of a home there.

"State troopers with a warrant!" an officer yelled.

FBI agents were in Bethel to help the troopers, said Staci Feger-Pellessier, an FBI spokeswoman. Bethel Police Chief Andre Achee said his officers were helping "as needed."

Min Sook Cha, an owner of Quyana Cab, said she woke up around 8:30 a.m. to officers breaking down the outer door to her home in Trailer Court.

She said they had guns drawn, were wearing bulletproof vests and told her, "Hands up!" before they handcuffed her.

When her significant other, Woo "Joe" Yoon, arrived, officers handcuffed him, too. Hours later, she sat on her couch, her legs shaking, her eyes watering.

"I can't stand up," she said.

She said she doesn't understand why this is happening now.

"Everybody go to liquor store so what is the problem?" she said.

Another cab company representative, who gave her name as Miae Young of Alaska Cab, said she too was handcuffed initially. The search of her home in Trailer Court lasted seven hours and seemed like something from a movie, she said.

Young, 54, said she felt ashamed even though she did nothing wrong.

Troopers seized a white powder that they suspected was an illegal drug but she said it was cold medicine from Korea, where she underwent treatment for liver cancer.

Cha, 54, and Yoon, 53, said troopers didn't find a single alcohol bottle in their home. They said they do not order alcohol from Anchorage for themselves or anyone else. As for drugs, they said they wouldn't do that.

"We are Christian," both Cha and Yoon said. They attend the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Bethel, they said. Yoon pulled out his Korean-language Bible and showed where he had underlined passages throughout.

The couple has lived in Bethel for 15 years and owned Quyana Cab for 12 years but still feel like outsiders at times even though Bethel is now home. Yoon has served on the city Public Safety and Transportation Commission.

"Good citizen," he said.

A Korean translator was part of the search team but Yoon said he invoked his right to a lawyer so he didn't end up using that help. But he said he didn't understand what troopers were saying, either. He asked a reporter for help deciphering a search warrant troopers left behind.

The search warrant said troopers were looking for alcohol, packaging materials, computers and cellphones. Troopers sought business records including checks, bank statements, tax returns, dispatch logs starting on Dec. 28, employee rosters, and address and phone books, among other items. They also were looking for records showing ownership of property, immigration documents and travel records.

Troopers seized their cash, their records, their computer and cellphones, including old ones no longer used, according to a property receipt left by troopers.

Cha and Yoon said they are U.S. citizens, "of course." They both continue to drive cabs and work around the clock. They were supposed to leave Wednesday for a trip to California but now may postpone their vacation.

Cab company owners said they wondered if bootlegging reports originated with cab drivers from the competition. Or maybe individual drivers are selling on their own, the company owners said.