Valley grower busted with almost $500,000 worth of marijuana, hash

ANCHORAGE — A police officer from the North Slope Borough police smelled something skunky in a bag at Ted Stevens International Airport Wednesday, authorities said.

Inside the bag discovered nearly half a kilogram of processed marijuana, two kilograms of edible marijuana products and half a kilogram of hashish butter. In all, authorities confiscated almost three kilograms of marijuana products from the bag. The North Slope officer was assigned to the Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team, which targets local alcohol and drug enforcement for Alaska Bush communities.

The bag belonged to Tyrone Barr, 49, of Wasilla, and authorities arrested him and initially charged him with two counts of fourth-degree drug misconduct. Charging documents weren’t immediately available Thursday afternoon on the CourtView records system. Investigators say they think Barr was growing in Wasilla primarily for retail in Barrow, said Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman Beth Ipsen.

Troopers sought and obtained a search warrant for Barr’s Wasilla residence, where they located a large-scale growing operation with 66 marijuana plants, according to trooper dispatches.

Officers confiscated at least four additional pounds of processed marijuana, 841 more grams of hashish butter, scales, filters and a shotgun from his residence.

The drugs confiscated from Barr at the airport have a street value in Barrow of about $200,000, a number inflated somewhat by Barrow’s relative remoteness, said Alaska State Troopers PIO Beth Ipsen. The Wasilla bust had a local street value of $65,000, troopers said. In Barrow dollars, Barr had about $500,000 in drugs, Ipsen said.

“In Bush Alaska, even alcohol, everything has a higher value,” she said. “Heck, even gas.”

Troopers transported Barr to the Anchorage jail, where he posted a $1,500 bond Thursday and was released, according to court documents. A full list of Barr’s charges wasn’t immediately available online, though troopers added additional charges of third- and fourth-degree drugs misconduct after the Wasilla seizure, according to dispatches.

The bust constitutes Barr’s first felony charge, according to court documents. Barr owns and operates of the Room With A View bed-and-breakfast in Barrow, according to state business license records.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.