The trooper dispatch revealed on Monday that an Anchorage grand jury indicted two south-central men on Felony Importation charges following an incident early last month.

It was on November 3rd that the Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team (WAANT) “contacted two individuals flying on local air carrier from Anchorage to Pilot Station after having received a tip that they would be transporting alcohol to Pilot Station,” troopers reported. Pilot Station is a local option community on the Yukon River in western Alaska that bans the importation and sale of alcohol.

Troopers seized four checked boxes after contacting 41-year-old Ronnie Moreno of Big Lake and 32-year-old Gabriel Anderson of Anchorage. Warrants were applied for and granted. The four boxes would be opened to reveal that they contained 96 700ml water bottles filled with alcoholic beverages for a total of 67.2 liters of alcohol.

As a result of the initial investigation, troopers would search Moreno’s residence in Big Lake and discover “further evidence showing that Moreno has made previous trips to Pilot Station and had purchased a total of 161 1.75L bottles of vodka over the course of approximately a month (281L or 74.2 gallons total),” it was reported by troopers.

Following the investigation, troopers arrested Moreno on a $5,000 arrest warrant for Felony Importation and attempted License or Permit Required on November 7th. On November 12th, Anderson was arrested on the same charges.

On December 4th, “a grand jury indicted Moreno with 3 counts of Felony Importation of Alcohol and 3 counts of License and Permit Required.  Anderson was indicted on Felony Importation and License and Permit Required, troopers reported.

Online court records show that Anderson is in custody and due to be arraigned  on Tuesday afternoon. His bail is set at $3,000. Moreno, following a bail hearing, is no longer in custody and his arraignment is set for December 12th.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adsense-responsive”]

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