Troopers seize illicit narcotics and arrest lower 48 drug dealers in Fairbanks

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTVF) - Three men from Arizona were arrested in Fairbanks for trafficking narcotics from the lower 48 to Interior Alaska on Wednesday, November 10.

According to the Alaska State Troopers (AST), more than 4,100 counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl were seized.

Troopers also confiscated 88 grams of heroin after conducting a multi-day investigation. The estimated Fairbanks street value of these illicit narcotics is $150 thousand dollars. In addition to the drugs, $13 thousand five hundred dollars in cash was also seized.

Investigators that were assigned to the AST Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit received a tip on November 3 that three narcotics traffickers from Arizona were selling fentanyl-laced pills in the Fairbanks area.

Narcotics investigators from the Fairbanks Area Narcotics Team (FANT) began a coordinated investigation into the three traffickers.

On November 9, AST investigators from FANT along with other agencies executed a search warrant at a Fairbanks area hotel where the men were staying.

The three Arizona men, 36-year-old Christopher Birdow, 37-year-old Daniel Barnes, and 29-year-old William Gurley, were arrested without incident and remanded to the Fairbanks Correctional Center on multiple charges.

The FANT team is made up of law enforcement officers from the Alaska State Troopers, North Pole Police Department, Fairbanks Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

If you have information about illegal drug trafficking occurring in Alaska, you can submit anonymous tips to the Alaska State Troopers using the AKTips smartphone app or online at www.dps.alaska.gov/tips.

Copyright 2022 KTVF. All rights reserved.