Federal and local officers joined forces early Friday to conduct a drug raid in Spenard, closing a hotel as agents searched the premises.
FBI Anchorage spokeswoman Chloe Martin said dozens of FBI agents and Anchorage Police Department officers, with support from other law enforcement agencies, conducted a search linked to “a federal narcotics investigation” at the Chelsea Inn on Spenard Road and Lois Drive.
“This morning, the FBI had multiple SWAT teams on scene,” Martin said. “And we worked closely, along with APD’s SWAT team as well, to safely execute what we would call a high-risk warrant service.”
Some people were briefly detained by agents during the raid, Martin said. She declined to say Friday whether anyone was arrested.
Martin said members of the FBI’s Evidence Response Team were sweeping the Chelsea Inn Friday afternoon. It has been closed as agents conduct their work.
Calls to the inn went unanswered Friday afternoon.
Anchorage police spokesman Christopher Barraza said officers were operating in support of the FBI. Barraza said he had no further details on the operation Friday.
Asked what led agents to the Chelsea Inn, Martin alluded to significant preparations for the raid.
“This is the culmination of a complex, multi-agency investigation,” she said.
The Chelsea Inn has been the scene of multiple homicides, including the 2020 death of employee Duane Fields and the Memorial Day 2023 shooting of Shnon Choi, during which the suspect’s girlfriend allegedly deleted surveillance video from the inn’s cameras. In June, Matthew Alexie was arrested in the fatal stabbing of inn tenant Michael Kaskey.
Martin said that on Friday morning, residents of the area thanked agents for raiding the inn. She promised to release additional details on the raid as they became available.
“More information is coming down here very soon,” she said.
