Alaskan authorities intercept Canadians allegedly smuggling drugs, firearms into U.S.
Officials intercepted a boat they say was travelling from Old Crow, Yukon, to Fort Yukon, Alaska
Alaskan officials say they are investigating after four Canadians crossed illegally into the United States with narcotics, wild game and firearms.
Alaska State Troopers learned on May 31 that an alleged drug dealer implicated in an overdose in Old Crow, Yukon, was headed to Fort Yukon, Alaska, by boat, according to a news release issued by the Alaska Department of Public Safety.
A village public safety officer (VPSO) in Fort Yukon contacted the boat while state troopers applied for a search warrant for the boat and its passengers, officials said in the release.
The individuals on board were all Canadian citizens, aged 41, 50, 27 and 24, they said.
Officers say they also found drug paraphernalia, three dead black ducks, a small quantity of narcotics and two firearms with assorted ammunition.
Officers investigating possible human smuggling
They believe one of the passengers disposed of suspected narcotics in the river prior to their encounter with the officers, they added.
Officials seized the boat and stored it in Fort Yukon until the Fairbanks Rural Unit and Areawide Narcotics Team could search it.
They interviewed the passengers and discovered that two of them had illegally transported the dead ducks into the U.S.
Two passengers were also illegal aliens in possession of firearms.
Several federal and state authorities, including Alaska Wildlife Troopers, Homeland Security Investigations, and Fairbanks Areawide Narcotics Team (FANT), are all investigating the passengers on multiple different charges, according to the news release, including human smuggling.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Police make raids across Montreal as part of investigation into alcohol, drug network selling into Arctic Quebec, Eye on the Arctic
Finland: Number of reported domestic violence cases rises in Finland, Yle News
United States: U.S. Justice Department to send millions to rural Alaska law enforcement, Alaska Public Media
