National Guard teams up with law enforcement agencies in drug bust

WASILLA — The Alaska Army National Guard’s Counterdrug Support Program and a LUH-71 Lakota helicopter crew of the 207th Aviation Battalion provided assistance to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Alaska State Troopers, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service during a drug bust in Southcentral Alaska during the winter of 2021.

“The mission of Counterdrug is to support law enforcement and their efforts to reduce the flow of drugs impacting our communities,” Alaska Army National Guard’s Counterdrug Support Program analyst, Master Sgt. Chris Mattson stated in a recent press release.

CDSP analysts are embedded within federal and state law enforcement to aid in statewide drug deterrence efforts, facilitating coordination between various organizations. Mattson requested assistance from the 207th AVN for the Lakota helicopter for this particular case.

According to the press release, the target was known to traffic substantial shipments of meth and heroin through the U.S. mail system, and the Lakota helicopter allowed the investigators to pursue the target from a safe distance.

“[The Lakota] is particularly useful for this type of mission mainly because of its communication capabilities, its camera capabilities, and it has a small signature in the sky,” Mattson stated.

The AKNG helicopter provided almost three hours of continued overwatch and vehicle pursuit, giving the DEA the opportunity to issue a successful search warrant raid on the target house and seized large quantities of drugs and weapons, helping reduce the overall flow of illicit drugs to Alaska through the mail system.

“Alaska’s a small community when it comes to law enforcement, so there’s a lot of interagency cooperation,” Mattson stated. “We bridge the gap in a lot of ways between different agencies and the community.”

For more information, visit ak.ng.mil.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com