Police arrested three Wrangell residents Tuesday for allegedly selling drugs. After searching two homes, Wrangell police arrested 39-year-old Cooper Seimears, 29-year-old Jacob Marshall and his fiancee 29-year-old McKenna Harding.
Wrangell Police Chief Gene Meek wouldn’t say what type of drugs they were allegedly selling.
The local police department said several law enforcement agencies have been planning this drug bust since early December, after obtaining information from community members. The Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force, the Petersburg Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the local Border Patrol Officer and the local Alaska Wildlife Trooper assisted in this operation.
Law enforcement waited until after children arrived to school
Meek said police obtained search warrants for separate residences and their vehicles. They searched a residence in front of the library on Front St. and the other residence across town on Zimovia Ave.
He said they started the dual search warrant at 8 a.m. Tuesday, after the couple’s two children went to school. He said the suspects were tied together in an alleged criminal enterprise.
“We decided to hit both houses at the same time so that we could get all the illegal contraband that was present in both places,” Meek said. “The search warrants went off exceptional, by that I mean there was no injuries. Everybody surrendered.”
Meek said that the two children and animals who live in the Marshall and Harding household are in a safe environment with family members.
“There may be additional charges to this.”
A Wrangell Police Department press release said Seimears and Marshall were involved with making drug sales and Harding was involved in delivering the drugs and collecting payments.
“Keep in mind, as we process evidence, as we get more information, we have a couple follow up search warrants that we’ll be doing,” Meek said. “There may be additional charges to this.”
Although Meek said he couldn’t share which drugs they confiscated, he told the Borough Assembly later in the day that fentanyl is in town.
All three individuals are scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wrangell’s court in the Public Safety Building.
This is a developing story.
