KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | FedEx cargo busted with $16 million worth of opium

FedEx cargo busted with $16 million worth of opium

by Ted Land
Tuesday, November 24, 2009

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Nearly $16 million worth of illegal drugs landed in Anchorage this week, and now the feds are trying to figure out who was expecting them.

Someone in Thailand stuffed the drugs into a shipment of wooden cat figurines and tried to ship them to Wassau, Wisc.

The FedEx plane carrying the load stopped off in Anchorage where a routine X-ray turned up suspicious.

Federal officers opened the containers and found 40 kilograms of opium.

The drugs continued on towards their destination as part of a controlled delivery to find out who was expecting the shipment.

Federal officers say they're not surprised by the lengths drug traffickers will go to.

"If you can imagine it, it's already being done and officers are constantly tested and taxed with keeping ahead of the bad guys so that the bad guys don't get ahead of us," said Jeff Lisius of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

So far no arrests have been made, but officers say they are working with other federal agencies and local police in Wisconsin.

Most opium comes from Afghanistan, but Thailand is a transfer point for the drug which is also grown in India and Pakistan.

Contact Ted Land at tland@ktuu.com