DPS: Alaska being targeted by drug traffickers for higher profits [Video]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) – Higher profits are among the factors attracting drug trafficking to one of the most rural states in the country, according to the Department of Public Safety, which said large quantities of illegal narcotics are being distributed to Alaska’s small population.

For drug traffickers, Alaska is a prime location, DPS said, as operators can buy counterfeit M30 Oxycodone pills for 10 to 25 cents each, and then sell them for up to $200 each. That’s according to Cpt. Cornelius Sims, the commander of Alaska’s statewide drug enforcement unit.

Those potentially high profits are luring to traffickers who primarily move their product through Anchorage first, as a “majority come into the Ted Stevens International Airport,” Sims said.

This includes drugs coming through mail cargo and carry-on baggage at airports in Alaska. From Anchorage, those same delivery methods – along with others – are used to move narcotics, such …