On August 10 in Skagway, local police along with federal officers from the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs task force arrested a seasonal worker at his residence on the Dyea Road in Skagway. The suspect was apprehended without a struggle after attempting to discard illicit substances by flushing them down the toilet. KHNS’ Mike Swasey spoke with Skagway Police Chief JJ Reddick about the arrest.

Swasey – Skagway Police Chief JJ Redick thanks for joining us today. There was an operation, a sort of sting set up in Skagway on Wednesday. And can you tell us what happened with that operation?

Reddick – Yes, we had an operation that was brought forth by the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs, the SEACAD Task Force, which is for all of Southeast Alaska. They had intercepted a package in Juneau that was meant to come to Skagway for a seasonal resident that was living here. 

Swasey – And what was in the package? 

Reddick – It contained 29 gross grams of cocaine and 59 gross grams of psilocybin mushrooms.

Swasey – Okay, and so both of those are controlled substances are they schedule I substances?

Reddick – The cocaine should be a class II, I believe, and then the psilocybin will be a class V.

Swasey – And what sort of penalties come with those sorts of amounts?

Reddick – So with the two different charges, we’ve got one that’s a Misconduct Involving Controlled Substance in the third degree, which is a Class B felony, which could potentially hold a sentence of 10 years. And then the Misconduct Involving Controlled Substance in the fifth degree is a Class A misdemeanor, and that’s up to a year in jail.

Swasey – How did this package become suspicious? What tipped off the authorities that are part of the SEACAD task force?

Reddick – So with the SEACAD Task Force, it’s an ongoing continued investigation for all of Southeast. We’ve had lots of drug intel coming in both to us and to them, they’ve been working all over the Southeast. But as we gain drug intel here, both from our anonymous tip lines and people calling in drug tips, I’m able to feed information to SEACAD. And with the cooperation of all parties involved, we have Coast Guard, we have FBI, DEA, state troopers, (and) investigators with the Postal Service, we are able to utilize several different databases that we can put names into and start watching for suspicious packages, suspicious travel, anything like that that can potentially lead to further investigation. Which is what happened in this case. As we feed information, they start watching and this package was actually found in Juneau, on its way here. And they followed it through to here to do a controlled delivery.

Swasey – And what do you mean by a controlled delivery?

Reddick – So the SEACAD Task Force would take the drugs from the package after obtaining a search warrant, then they will put a sample of said drugs in there, and then they would package it back up and do a controlled delivery to the recipient.

Swasey – So that means allowing it to go to, let’s say in Skagway, everything’s delivered by PO box, so it allowed that to go to the accused individuals PO box, they picked it up and then were apprehended? 

Reddick – That’s correct. So it was placed into a post office box here and then direct observation of the individual coming to the post office, picking up the package, and leaving with it.

Swasey – And do we know the name of the individual, is that public information at this point?

Reddick – So the package was picked up by a 25-year-old Arizona resident by the name of David Patterson.

Swasey – And he is a Skagway seasonal employee? 

Reddick – That is correct. 

Swasey – And is he being held at this point?

Reddick – Currently he is been detained in our holding facility on a $2,500 bond.

Swasey – And is there a court date set for him to mount a defense?

Reddick – It will be later this month, I believe it is August 19.

Swasey – Skagway Police Chief JJ Redick thanks so much for your time, I appreciate it. 

Reddick – Thank you.