Kodiak police say drug bust was biggest ever

KODIAK, Alaska (AP) - Kodiak police say a weekend drug bust was the biggest ever in department history, with the drugs having an estimated street value of $2.2 million.

Police seized more than a pound-and-a-half of methamphetamine and nearly 2 ounces of heroin, Kodiak radio station KMXT reported.

Eric McDaniel, a 44-year-old resident of Washington state, was arrested Saturday, the Anchorage Daily News reported.

A preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 30. Online court records indicate he was appointed a public defender. A message left by The Associated Press with the public defender agency in Kodiak wasn’t immediately returned Monday.

Police Chief Ronda Wallace said in a statement that McDaniel allegedly began dealing drugs in December.

“Law enforcement officers had contacted him the following month when he was at a residence in Kodiak, which is associated with narcotics activity,” Wallace wrote.

Detectives got a warrant for his hotel room after police received tips from the community and after months of watching him, Wallace said.

Wallace said police lured him outside the hotel room Saturday morning and arrested him. His girlfriend, 32-year-old Tina Bettroff, fled when she saw police, Wallace’s statement says.

Both face counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Once police got inside the hotel room, they found a white plastic dish holding meth, according to Detective Michael Sortor’s affidavit.

“Further investigation revealed a black hardened Pelican brand equipment case that was stashed inside of the oven,” Sortor wrote. “I removed the case from the oven, and when it was opened, I discovered what could only be considered as a massive amount of methamphetamine for the Kodiak area.”

Besides several large bags of meth, police also found smaller bags with a powder that later tested positive for heroin, the affidavit says. Police also confiscated a digital scale, packaging material and meth pipes.

“Based on the weight of the methamphetamine and heroin and the digital scale and the amount of residue present on the scale, what was on hand was indicative of drug distribution,” Sortor wrote.