JUNEAU: An Anchorage man is accused of flying to Las Vegas more than two dozen times over the past year in an operation that involved couriers smuggling heroin to Alaska in body cavities.
Alaska State Troopers arrested James E. Dickinson at his home on W. 84th Avenue on Sept. 21 after an investigation resulting from a tip to Crimestoppers, an anonymous crime tip reporting line, according to charging documents.
As Alaska communities and state health officials grapple with heroin abuse and related crime, the charges filed this week in federal court reveal one way the drug is arriving in Anchorage, according to police. Based on what appear to his drug ledgers, Dickinson is believed to have distributed about 3.5 kilos of heroin between April and August of this year.
At $185 a gram, Dickinson’s illegal business during that time had a street value of more than $645,000, based on law enforcement affidavits in the case.
The investigation began when a tipster told authorities on August 21 that drug couriers were carrying heroin between Anchorage and Las Vegas by stuffing the drugs into their anal cavities.
Authorities got a new tip 10 days later saying one of the same couriers was bringing 12 to 14 “golf balls” of heroin from Las Vegas to Alaska on a weekly basis.
Alaska State Troopers with the Mat-Su Drug Unit followed up, stopping a suspected courier at Ted Stevens International Airport on Sept. 11. The person, who remains anonymous in the charging documents, admitted to carrying six ounces of heroin inside his or her body. The courier subsequently removed six bags of heroin packed and agreed to become a confidential informant.
The courier told investigators that, together with Dickinson, the pair made frequent trips to Las Vegas to get heroin and bring it back to Alaska. On each trip they brought about 125 grams, according to charging documents.
During the nine days that followed the Sept. 11 incident at the airport, the courier-turned-informant told authorities that Dickinson wanted to arrange a 2-kilogram purchase of heroin from a source in Vegas, a much larger amount than they had previously bought, authorities say.
The informant told investigators that Dickinson was planning on taking $40,000 with him to Vegas and instructed the informant to do the same. The two planned to purchase each kilo for $35,000, the charging documents say.
State troopers executed a search warrant at Dickinson’s home on Sept. 21 and found large amounts of money, guns, 5.3 grams of heroin and other items.
Dickinson was arrested the same day as he tried to leave his home. Authorities noticed that his arms were covered in open sores from what appeared to be IV drug use. He was transported to Anchorage Correctional Center and remanded for a probation violation.
Authorities later searched a storage unit rented by Dickinson and found six grams of heroin, two rifles, 121 grams of marijuana and other items.
Authorities returned to the jail and arrested Dickinson on six counts of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Dickerson’s travel records indicate he had taken 27 round trips from Anchorage to Las Vegas since October 2014.