Two Fairbanks men, 36-year-old Jason Carl Heim, and 51-year-old Andrew Paul Newman, pled guilty to Drug Trafficking Conspiracy last week.

In an announcement on Friday, U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler stated that the two men pled guilty to two counts of trafficking in narcotics and that the men are scheduled to be sentenced on April 4, 2014.

The guillty pleas by Newman and Heim was a result of an investigation by U.S. Postal Inspectors, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Alaska State Drug Enforcement Unit.

In August of 2013, Postal investigators intercepted a suspicious package, obtained a search warrant and opened the parcel to discover 7 ounces of 71% pure methamphetamine. The package containing the illegal drugs was repackaged and delivered to the addressee. Newman and Heim were arrested after authorities followed the suspects into a secluded wooded area near North Pole where the men opened the parcel.

The value of the seized package and its contents was estimated to be approximately $40,000, and as much as $80,000 if further processed for resale.

But, investigators say that this delivery is only the latest package shipped to the two men. Electronic mail and postal records show that the two men had received a series of shipments from the same source in California from April until their arrest in August.

Newman and Heim have been ordered detained until their sentencing.