A coordinated sting operation between Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Postal Service led to the arrest of two people in Nome last week and the seizure of a drug shipment with a six-figure local value.
Toby Ernst, 43, and Evonne Newhall, 35, were arrested Friday after a coalition of federal, state and local law enforcement worked with Nome postal officials to set up the sting. According to troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel, an undercover officer made a “controlled delivery” of the illegal drugs.
“A controlled delivery essentially uses law enforcement to attempt to deliver a package and determine who’s actually going to be the one receiving it,” he said.
The package contained the equivalent of 887 doses of methamphetamine, which has a Nome street value of more than $106,000 according to a trooper dispatch.
Ernst was arrested and charged with third-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, while Newhall was arrested on an outstanding warrant for failure to appear in court on a previous assault charge. Both are being held at the Anvil Mountain Correctional Center in Nome.
