Crime & Courts

Anchorage police serve search warrant at office of pot delivery business

Anchorage police on Thursday afternoon served a search warrant at an Old Seward Highway office space occupied by Absolute Chronic Delivery Co.

Police spokesperson Anita Shell said officers were in the process of serving the warrant at 4 p.m. but couldn't provide additional details.

"That's all I can say at this point," she said.

ACDC, a marijuana delivery service, has had property seized multiple times in the past month by police.

ACDC owner Michael Crites said he wasn't at the office when police served the warrant. Two receptionists were there, but police didn't detain them, he said.

Logan Cordell works at the electronic cigarette shop Legion Vapor, located below the second-floor office of ACDC in a South Anchorage mixed-business building. Cordell spotted police officers wearing helmets outside the shop around 1:30 in the afternoon, he said.

Officers took positions on the corners of the building; multiple police vehicles and SWAT vans arrived and parked outside, Cordell said.

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"They were all in vests," he said of the officers.

A vehicle accident on Old Seward distracted Cordell from what was happening in the building, but he witnessed police removing suitcases and a box from the upstairs office.

Inside the building, an on-scene officer declined to comment about the police presence. He said officers were inside the office directly above Legion Vapor and asked a reporter to leave the area.

Reached by phone, Michal Crites said the Anchorage Police Department aimed to seize his property, specifically receipts documenting what he describes as members' "donations" to his business.

Crites said in a previous interview he provides marijuana to people suffering from illnesses as well as recreational users. The pot is given to the business and the recipients often provide "donations" for the deliveries, he said.

Legalization allowed Alaskans to possess and transport up to 1 ounce of marijuana for recreational use. People are also able to give each other up to 1 ounce of marijuana, or six immature plants.

Crites said police have seized two vehicles tied to his business in the past two days.

In July, police seized Crites' car, which he retrieved from a vehicle impound earlier this week. Inside the vehicle, Crites found a search warrant listing what police took as evidence in what they've called an ongoing investigation.

Crites previously said he had about a kilo of pot and $9,000 in his car. The property listed on the warrant does not match what's missing, Crites contends.

Crites said the receipts police may have been after on Thursday contained personal information about clients. He said he's "very, very disgusted" by the police department's actions.

"We were out doing errands when police surrounded the building in SWAT gear, carrying high-powered weapons for our peaceful little pot business. And that's exactly what it is," he said.

Jerzy Shedlock

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

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