Local police say they’ve intercepted another shipment of heroin bound for Petersburg. On Saturday, with the help of a US postal inspector, a local officer arrested 49-year-old Jeffery Kyle Smith in front of the Petersburg Post Office after he allegedly picked up a package that contained heroin. Police Chief Jim Agner got applause when he announced the bust at the local City Council meeting Tuesday night.

“We took out another 18,000 dollars worth of heroin off the streets of Petersburg. That would not have occurred without the help if US Postal Inspectors,” Agner said.

Recently, the nation’s chief postal inspector paid a brief visit to Petersburg in response to local concerns about drug shipments in the mail. Along with the Postal Service and local police, the case also involves SEACAD – the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs task force, as well as State Troopers.

According to the court complaint filed by District Attorney Nick Polasky, Petersburg police were notified by a postal inspector who reported a suspicious package was bound for Smith from Oregon on August 29th. The inspector ultimately got a search warrant and allegedly found several every-day items along with nearly twenty grams of a substance that tested positive for heroin. The inspector left a small amount of the substance in the package and brought it to the Petersburg Post office where Smith allegedly picked it up Saturday afternoon. A local officer and the inspector subsequently arrested him in the parking lot. Police allege that they later found scales, packing material, cash, and heroin paraphernalia in Smith’s residence at town trailer court.

The case is broader than this one arrest, according to Agner.

“This is part of an ongoing investigation that is tied to heroin seizures we’ve done in the the last two years, several times. And so…..the Postal Service has been working with us with a number of these particular suspects now for a couple of years,” Agner said Tuesday morning.

Smith is currently charged with felony misconduct involving controlled substances in the 4th degree.

The court appointed a public defender for Smith who has not yet entered a plea. The could happen during his preliminary hearing scheduled for later this month.
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