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Cocaine Bust in Anchorage Leads Police to Marijuana Growing Operation in Naknek

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Julian Gutierrez, 33,  was arrested after Bristol Bay Borough Police seized 28 marijuana plants, growing implements at his Naknek home last Thursday.

DILLINGHAM:  Julian Gutierrez, 33, has been arrested and is facing three felonies after police in Naknek found what they describe as a small marijuana growing operation at his home on Monsen Road.

Gutierrez was first picked up by drug agents in Anchorage last Thursday, after an investigation by Bristol Bay Borough Police suggested he may be attempting to smuggle cocaine into Bristol Bay. Members of the Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team met him at the Lake Hood runway, as he was preparing to board a Piper Saratoga aircraft bound for King Salmon. In his bags, the investigators found four grams of cocaine, brass knuckles, and an AK-47 assault rifle.

He wasn't arrested, but WAANT investigators said he admitted to more drug activity at his home in Naknek. They shared the tip with the Borough Police Dept., who took a search warrant to the home that same night.

There, police discovered the marijuana growing operation. Along with 28 plants already several feet in size, police also found marijuana seed, grow lights and ballasts, circulation fans, planters, soil, guano, fertilizers and other commercial grow implements.

The police seized a further 14 ounces of marijuana already being processed, and small amounts of white powder that tested positive for cocaine, according to their report.

One person has said that Gutierrez is a commercial fishermen in Bristol Bay, and has been in Naknek for at least several years.

Borough police found him near the Red Dog Bar on Saturday afternoon and placed him under arrest. The police are charging him with three counts of felony misconduct involving controlled substances for the bust at his home in Naknek. The magistrate set bail at $12,500.

Gutierrez has not yet been charged by the WAANT unit in Anchorage for the cocaine and weapons seized last Thursday.