Authorities in Whittier arrested two men after one of the men disembarked from the M/V Kennicott and the other arrived to pick him up with a backpack stuffed with 33 pounds of methamphetamine on Friday.

Federal documents filed with the Alaska District Attorney’s office showed that Eric James Hansen boarded the Kennicott in Bellingham and traveled to Whittier with his cargo of the illegal drug. Waiting for him in Whittier was Marshal Parke, who had flown in from Seattle to pick Hansen up at the remote port. Authorities were able to ascertain that Parke had come from Seattle after a boarding pass stub was found in a briefcase in the vehicle.

The bust came after it was reported that there was a suspicious passenger on the ferry to Whittier. When that suspicious passenger, identified as Hansen got off the ferry, he was watched as he got into a silver GMC Yukon driven by Parke. As the vehicle attempted to depart that community, it was pulled over by Whittier police and a K-9 unit sniffed out the illicit drugs.[xyz-ihs snippet=”Adversal-468×60″]

FBI agent Wendy Terry wrote in the federal report that “In my training and experience, and in speaking to other investigators, this amount of methamphetamine has an approximate wholesale value of $225,000, and a street value far exceeding that for sales of user quantities.”

Also seized was a small bag of suspected drugs, a glass pipe and $8,000.

Charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute have been leveled against both men.

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