Nine arrests were made this week as Unalaska police performed a two-day sweep as part of an ongoing investigation into meth and heroin sales in the Aleutian Island community.
Unalaska Public Safety Director Jamie Sunderland says the operation follows an undercover drug sting conducted over the past few months. Officers used information from those cases -- and from a confidential informant.
"That has led to the arrest of nine additional people," Sunderland says.
Among them are Lua Aiava, 28, Allan Bautista, 44, Ioane Faasavalu, 25, Ernie Oxinio, 30, Brandon Rosa, 21, Stephen A. Rosa, 49, and Tofa Matautia, 28. They have all been charged with drug-related felonies.
Officers kicked off the first round of searches around 12:45 p.m. Wednesday and wrapped up around midnight. In that stretch, they executed 10 search warrants. Meth, heroin, and bath salts were all seized as evidence.
"We have recovered alarming amounts of illegal drugs, plenty of guns, lots of cash," Sunderland says, adding that the department is planning to release more details on the quantities at a later date.
With assistance from a police dog and K-9 officer flown in from Sand Point, Unalaska police spent Wednesday searching the offices at Unalaska's Tradewinds Apartments and a private residence there as well.
They also combed through a Radiant Heating Fuel Services truck and a tire shop, both owned by Dalibor Machalek, who said his property was searched because his employee is allegedly connected to drug sales.
Radiant Heating's fuel truck driver, Stephen A. Rosa, is facing 13 felony charges for allegedly engaging in a criminal enterprise involving controlled substances, allegedly possessing meth and bath salts, and allegedly possessing firearms despite an earlier felony conviction, which would preclude gun ownership.
On Wednesday afternoon, Machalek says his brother called him to tell him that police officers were at his tire shop, just down the road from Radiant Heating's office.
"So I went over there, and I was informed by police officer Jennifer Shockley that they have a suspicion to search the premises," Machalek says. "She informed me that they were going to have a warrant within a couple of hours or something. And when I arrived, police officers were already in the shop, searching."
Sunderland says the defendants who were arrested on Wednesday were due to appear in court for hearings Friday afternoon.
Lauren Rosenthal is the news director at KUCB, the public radio station in Unalaska. The above story originally appeared on the radio station's website and was reprinted here with permission.