A Hoonah man is facing charges of trafficking thousands of opioid pain pills throughout Alaska and beyond.
Nickolas Cakmis, 39, was arraigned in Anchorage on Wednesday after a joint investigation by the United States Postal Inspector, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hoonah Police Department led to him.
According to a release from the State of Alaska Department of Law, charging documents in the case allege that Cakmis trafficked thousands of pills of a pain medication called Tramadol throughout Alaska and the United States. Tramadol is newly identified as a controlled substance, as the Alaska Legislature’s Senate Bill 54 defines it as one. Gov. Bill Walker signed that bill this past November. The bill outlines tougher sentences for certain felonies, cracking down harder on sex traffickers and other attempts to be tougher on crime.
The DEA identified Tramadol as a controlled substance in 2014.
Cakmis told investigators that he got the pills from overseas and would then re-ship them to buyers in the U.S. He was arraigned on third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, which carries the maximum total sentence of five years in prison, a fine of $50,000 or both.
According to online court records, Cakmis has previous minor offenses and civil cases but no criminal convictions.
