A man described by residents and police in an Aleutian Islands town as a known drug dealer was turned around at the local airport and run out of town by parents when he arrived from Anchorage Tuesday.
Locals in the East Aleutians Borough community of Sand Point say the incident occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, when a nightly PenAir flight arrived in town from Anchorage with the man on board.
In a caption for a Facebook photo of the confrontation posted by resident Carmen Dushkin, she said the incident personifies opposition by locals to a continuing flow of drugs into their communities.
"Sand Point takes a stand to remove known drug dealers," Dushkin wrote. "Team Sand Point will not let you come into our town and corrupt the youth of tomorrow."
The Sand Point incident follows a tradition dating back to Alaska Native tribes of banishing offenders who disturb the peace as a form of punishment, one adopted by Gold Rush-era residents as a "blue ticket" out of town by the first available means of transportation. In a more recent example of an Alaska community expelling a person suspected of but not charged with a crime, tribal officials banned a suspected bootlegger from the village of Akiak in April.
According to Sand Point Police Department officer Michael Livingston, who witnessed the exchange, police couldn't confirm locals' identification of the man as he was not charged with a crime. The man does have a history in the 1,000-person community, which has seen problems with illegal drugs like cocaine, heroin and meth, as well as abuse of prescription drugs.
"Typically, what happens is a drug dealer flies into Sand Point with, say, 1,000 Percocet (oxycodone pain pills) and he has a runner sell them for 150 bucks apiece," Livingston said. "And within a couple weeks, he's leaving town with about $150,000 cash."
I have actually seen this happen before. The native community will rise up as one and eject a trouble maker or dangerous individual and they will be denied access to their community.
It will sometimes confound law enforcement because rather than turn the person over to the authorities the locals will simply ban him or her. Essentially because they don't trust white man's justice.
Of course in the olden days sometimes trouble makers would be taken out on one way hunting trips. After all, accidents do happen you know.
Don't worry too much about this fellow however, he will always be welcome in Wasilla.
I hope this gives heart to other parents in other communities.
ReplyDeleteDrugs make bad people out of good people.
Drugs are devatating these communities. Good for the Native community
ReplyDeleteto take it all in hand.
Another variation on shunning. Love it!
ReplyDeleteOnly works in a limited access community though.
DeleteThose people are getting ripped off as well as set up . Anyone who would pay 150$ for a percocet is craaazy. That has to be a typo. I'm not a drug user but a nurse and really doubt percocet, esp 5mg tabs would sell for 150$ There was adrug ring busted at a Boeing facility near me and the sellers were given harsher sentences than the buyers. They were selling percocet for 1$ per mg, So 5 for a 5mg, 10 for a 10 mg, etc. I just can't fathom the debt people would be in if addicted and paying those prices listed. Crime would be awful.
ReplyDeleteYou can only get to Sand Point by boat or plane. There is one clinic and pharmacy. No abusing drugs unless you fly to Anchorage. There are also many people that come to Sand Point in the summer to fish and work the canneries. If you're addicted and come to a town and cannot get your drugs, many will pay almost anything and prices are set by availability. Think about a $20 bottle of vodka selling for $150 -- that's the way it is in rural remote areas.
DeleteWow Thanks BearWoman.
DeleteBut still how could an addicted cannery worker afford this? A user used to say 80 mg of percocet a day thats 16x150= $2250 a day habit. Yikes. Whats a cannery worker make?
If more communities would rise up like this, we would see dealers back down and much less crime. We outnumber them yet are afraid of them. Sad...
ReplyDeleteIs that what sent Todd Palin to Wasilla?
ReplyDeleteThat dealer was sitting pretty, coming into town with pills and other drugs and flying back to town with probably close to $200 grand each time.
ReplyDeleteBut once confronted, I'm sure he was close to pulling a Nugent, pissing and shitting his pants.
Personally, I would have made him buy his own ticket. He would have done it too. Pussy.
Now I understand why Sarah Palin lives in Arizona. Shunned!
ReplyDeleteThis is SO terrific! I wish it could be blasted all over the media and the world. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete$150 ea? No way. They go from $5-20 ea all over the country.
ReplyDeleteExcept for in small rural communities where they are $150 and in demand. Personally, I'd kick my ass if i spent that on one pill. Much better spent on greens, if one must.
DeleteI saw this happen in the 1970's in a small fishing town in SE AK. A fisherman had gotten drunk or high and called in a false MAYDAY, so all of us fishing cut the gear and ran to help. The Coasties joined the search and when we finally found him, they took him to the hospital in Sitka. When he came to town to retrieve his boat, all the guys in town met the plane, walked him to his boat, and let him know not to come back.
ReplyDeleteNever did see him again, rumor was he tied up his boat in Sitka and left the state.
Supply and demand. If the "good residents" of Sand Point, AK had no demand, mules from the Anchorage area would have no one to supply. How convenient that Officer Livingston "witnessed" the exchanged, but only identified 1 of the dope pushers..of course, NOT one of his own. This isn't news. Police in Sand Point, Alaska have been witnessing this sort of corruption for who knows how long now. What would really be news worthy, is if Officer Livingston actually "witnessed" one of YOUR very own residents receiving said handoff, perhaps upheld the law..and did his damn job. Don't boast claims of "not in our town", when it sure the hell is and you are either the dumbest officer in pants or you are his lackey. I don't live there and even I know who to go to for pills or pot or paper pushing! I would tell you who it is, but then what kind of White Man justice would that be?
ReplyDelete