Law enforcement has apprehended two Nome residents officials say were trying to bring approximately $62,000* worth of narcotics into Nome on Thursday.
29-year-old Kaitlyn Priester and 33-year-old Frederick Larsen were stopped in the Anchorage airport by the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit’s Airport Interdiction Team after the team received drug tips from the Alaska State Troopers that the pair would be attempting to bring drugs to Nome.
An investigation found Priester to be carrying 43 grams, or 430 user doses, of methamphetamine and 19.6 grams, or 196 user doses, of heroin.
Troopers say the narcotics were being internally body-carried by Priester to Nome for distribution. Priester has been arrested and charged with Misconduct Involving Controlled Substances in the second and third degrees.
Larsen was discovered to have an outstanding, extraditable arrest warrant in Missouri for a prior offense and was subsequently arrested. The two were remanded at the Anchorage jail and are being held without bond. AST Sergeant Kevin Blanchette confirms that the pair had already been known to law enforcement for potential drug-related activity.
Image at top: Alaska State Trooper cruiser. Photo: Matthew F. Smith, KNOM file.
*approximate Nome value
