Alaska State Troopers say one of three people arrested in a heroin bust at Anchorage's airport last week had made dozens of similar trips between Oregon and Alaska, importing $1 million worth of the drug into the state.
Troopers said in a dispatch that two Oregon men -- Rodney J. Anderson, 53, and Joshua Martin, 39 -- as well as 28-year-old Alyssa Dallmann of Palmer were arrested Thursday at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. All three were charged with felony misconduct involving controlled substances.
"During the course of the investigation it was determined that Anderson and his associates smuggled more than 11 pounds of heroin (50,000 individual doses) into Alaska over the last 12 months with an estimated street value of over a million dollars," troopers wrote.
Trooper investigator Shayne Calt said in a criminal complaint against Anderson that troopers first received a tip in December from the sheriff's office in Clackamas County, Oregon, that Anderson was making several trips a month to Alaska, carrying up to half a pound of heroin -- worth more than $60,000 at local street prices of roughly $300 a gram.
"Anderson was reportedly purchasing the heroin in the Portland area for about $1,000 an ounce (and) selling it in Alaska for about $3,500 an ounce," Calt wrote.
Troopers received additional tips beginning in early February corroborating the information from Oregon. When troopers served a search warrant for stolen goods at a home on Pass The Buck Circle in Wasilla -- Anderson's address while he was in Alaska -- they found several of the stolen items.
"A stolen truck was recovered from the back yard," Calt wrote. "Over 12 people were found to be in the residence."
During the course of two nights in mid-February, troopers saw an SUV registered to Anderson parked at the residence, as well as "an extreme amount of vehicle traffic in and out of the residence."
"In a one-hour time period we witnessed five vehicles in and out of the residence," Calt wrote. "Based on my training and experience I know that the extreme amount of short-duration traffic at the residence is consistent with drug trafficking."
According to Calt, Anderson had booked numerous Anchorage-Portland flights on Alaska Airlines, typically as one-way tickets just hours before departure.
"The flight records show that Anderson had booked approximately 38 trips (over 70 one-way flights) between Anchorage and Portland from March of 2015 until March of 2016," Calt wrote. "Anderson's travel is clearly indicative of interstate drug trafficking and is the most extensive travel history I have ever discovered while investigating drug traffickers."
Troopers began monitoring Anderson's Alaska Airlines bookings, and were waiting for him when his next flight from Portland arrived in Anchorage at 1 a.m. Thursday.
"Anderson waited at the end of the jetway and was ultimately joined by two other passengers from the plane," Calt wrote. "They were later identified as (Dallmann) and (Martin)."
After troopers took the trio into custody, they produced a combined 313 grams of heroin -- most of it concealed within the bodily orifices of Dallmann and Martin, who admitted they were couriers paid by Anderson, Calt said. Anderson confirmed their story, adding that he had been bringing drugs to Alaska for at least two years, according to Calt.
"Anderson admitted that he had brought heroin up to Alaska every time he had traveled to Alaska, over 36 times in the last year and several times the year before," Calt wrote. "Anderson agreed with my estimate that he had brought more than 180 ounces of heroin into Alaska."
All three defendants were held at the Anchorage Correctional Complex. Anderson's bail was set at $100,000, while Martin's was set at $50,000 and Dallmann's at $10,000.