Police arrest three Wrangell men on felony drug charges

Wrangell police, working with law enforcement personnel from a regional task force, arrested three men on April 30 on felony drug possession charges.

Justin G. Churchill, 39, Richard “Daniel” J. Eklund, 38, and Cooper J. Seimears, 39, were arrested after police confiscated a package containing 88 grams of methamphetamine (about three ounces), with a street value of approximately $17,600, according to a prepared statement issued by Wrangell police on April 30.

The package had been shipped to Wrangell.

Police Chief Gene Meek on May 1 declined to comment on the shipping method or where the package originated, citing the ongoing investigation.

The three were arraigned on May 1 with bail set at $15,000 each, with an additional $5,000 levied on Eklund due to a previous escape charge, Meek reported.

All three remained in the Wrangell jail as of May 5. Their next court appearance was set for May 9.

“On about April 25, investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force identified a suspicious package being shipped to Wrangell,” according to the police statement.

SEACAD is a regional task force comprised of police departments from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Petersburg, Hoonah, Wrangell, Craig and Yakutat, the state troopers, FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Coast Guard Investigative Service.

“On April 30, SEACAD arrived in Wrangell and the Wrangell police began assisting with the interdiction of the package. The package was delivered in Wrangell and picked up by the recipient,” identified as Churchill, according to the police statement.

Churchill got into a pickup truck driven by Eklund and they drove “to a residence in the 100 block of Howell Way and met up” with Seimears. “Soon afterward, all three men drove away from the area” in two vehicles, police reported.

SEACAD, Wrangell police and the state wildlife trooper followed the vehicles to a logging road off of the Airport Spur Road, “where investigators contacted the occupants of the vehicles and detained them regarding this investigation.”

Seimears, Churchill and Eklund were placed under arrest.