Pubdate: Thu, 24 Apr 2014
Source: Petersburg Pilot (AK)
Copyright: 2014 Petersburg Pilot
Contact:  http://www.petersburgpilot.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4161
Author: Kyle Clayton

PETERSBURG LAW ENFORCEMENT COULD SEEK FEDERAL RESOURCES FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING

The Petersburg Police Department may petition the federal government
to become designated as a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).

A coalition of law enforcement agencies can petition to become a HIDTA
region, however, according to the White House's Office of National
Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), no agencies in Southeast have applied. In
a report to the assembly several months ago, Borough Manager Steve
Giesbrecht announced that Petersburg was being considered for the
HIDTA designation. Police Chief Kelly Swihart said that in November
the FBI informed him that they were considering working towards
designating Southeast as a HIDTA. Should the Feds go forward with a
designation process Petersburg hopes to participate, Swihart said.

The HIDTA designation increases resources, cooperation and
intelligence sharing between local and Federal agencies.

According to the office's website, there are currently 28 HIDTAs,
which include approximately 16 percent of all counties in the United
States and 60 percent of the population.

The Office of National Drug Control Reauthorization Act of 2006
outlines several qualifying criteria to become a HIDTA designee. One
criteria is the region must be "...a significant center of illegal
drug production, manufacturing, importation or distribution."
Petitioners must also prove that "a significant increase in allocation
of Federal resources is necessary to respond adequately to drug
related activities in the area."

Swihart said Southeast Alaska's high trafficking arrest rate relative
to the population is a key reason the Petersburg Police Department is
considering the designation.

"We're not going to have the amount of seizures they would in a HIDTA
in the lower 48 but we're seeing quite a bit of drug trafficking per
capita based on the population," Swihart said. "When you look at
things proportionately we're as high or higher (in arrest rates) than
some of these other High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas."

Petersburg's undercover officer, who works for the Alaska State
Trooper's drug enforcement unit Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs
(SEACAD), wished to remain anonymous but said methamphetamine and
heroin use is rising and has been the drug of choice for the last five
years.

"All over Southeast we're always seeing a lot of meth and a lot of
heroin; those are our two main drugs that we see and seem to be
causing most of the problems," the officer said.

According to Alaska State Trooper data, during the past five years in
the Petersburg and Wrangell Boroughs, police have investigated 23
cases of drug distribution and production cases, 12 of which have
resulted in arrests. (See sidebar)

In Juneau, although seizures of heroin and pills such as methadone
have decreased from 2012 to 2013, seizures of Oxycodone increased 253%
from last year.

Sitka Police Chief Sheldon Schmitt said he's unaware of any movement
to become a HIDTA designated area but cited a rise in drug trafficking
in the region.

"We definitely have a growing drug problem in Southeast, Alaska,"
Schmitt said. "I think there's more attention being paid to it."

Sitka created a special drug task force six months ago in an effort to
deal with the situation.

According to the Alaska State Troopers 2013 annual drug report, the
amount of heroin seized from across the state increased from 4.93
pounds in 2012 to 55.12 pounds in 2013.

Between 2012 and 2013, pharmaceutical painkillers such as hydrocodone
seizures increased more than 800 percent and oxycodone seizures
increased more than 130 percent across the state.

Swihart said partnering with local agencies is instrumental in
successfully investigating how drugs get into Petersburg.

Different governing bodies control different modes of transportation
and accessing those vehicles is a challenge, Swihart said. For police
to investigate drugs in the mail, for instance, they need federal
permission from the postal inspector.

"Whether it's that or working with TSA on air carriers or DOT
(Department of Transportation) on the ferry system, we have to work
with their governing bodies and their managing entities to get into
these areas to be able investigate," Swihart said.

Swihart said there is a cyclical balancing act when it comes to
investigating various methods traffickers use to bring drugs into the
community.

"I absolutely think they (drug traffickers) have pretty good
ingenuity," Swihart said. "When we put pressure on one vehicle they
switch vehicles just to keep us on our toes."

State Trooper trafficking investigations in the Petersburg and
Wrangell Boroughs during the past five years:

Marijuana Sell: 7

Marijuana Production: 3

Marijuana Smuggle: 1

Amphetamine Sell: 1

Heroin Sell: 1

Opium Derivative Sell: 4

Hallucinogen Sell/Distribute: 2

Narcotic Pain Pills sell: 4

12 of these investigations have resulted in arrests.

To paint an accurate picture of drug trends across Southeast is
difficult. There is no one stop shop for drug trafficking statistics
region wide. Multiple local, state and federal agencies that handle
drug related activity collect and store their own data. In many cases,
it takes time and money to receive detailed statistics.The Petersburg
Pilot has made several data requests and has published what it has
received thus far.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D