Airport drug bust uncovers meth

Published 4:14 pm Friday, April 21, 2017

A man who allegedly brought methamphetamine on a commercial flight to sell in Juneau was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury for second-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, a class B felony.

Brian O’Neil Yambao Arce, 38, was stopped at the Juneau International Airport coming off a flight from Seattle on April 14, according to a criminal complaint. Juneau Police Department Detective Carl Lundquist wrote in the complaint that JPD’s K-9 Buddy alerted on Arce’s bag and a subsequent search revealed 216 grams of a white crystalline substance that field-tested positive for meth.

Lundquist wrote that 216 grams of meth is far beyond a personal-use quantity. Because Arce said he does not live in Juneau and was visiting friends, the detective believed he was here to deliver and/or distribute drugs.

Arce was set for arraignment in Juneau Superior Court.

Other indictments issued were:

• A 25-year-old man was indicted for third-degree criminal mischief after he allegedly cut his girlfriend’s clothes and smashed her cellphone, according to a criminal complaint.

• A 46-year-old man was indicted for second-degree and third-degree assault, for reportedly choking his girlfriend and throwing her into a counter.

• A 31-year-old man was indicted for first-degree burglary and third-degree criminal mischief after he allegedly broke into a family member’s residence, breaking a window, ransacking the house, and punching the ignition of a sports car.

• Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 or liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.