Members of the drug task force arrested a Juneau man on Thursday at a business in Juneau, seizing narcotics valued at $136,000 and nearly $20,000 in cash, according to the Juneau Police Department.
David Melvin Cox Jr., 35, was charged with three counts of misconduct involving controlled substances as well as misconduct involving weapons, according to Lt. Krag Campbell, a JPD spokesperson.
The drug charges comprise one class A felony and two class B felonies, while the weapons charge — involving three handguns found in his home — is a class C felony.
Investigators with Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force approached Cox at about 2:15 p.m. as he was exiting a business in a strip shopping center in the 9100 block of Glacier Highway.
Cox turned back inside the business and ran behind the counter, throwing drugs and money in the trash before surrendering to members of the task force, according to a JPD press release. Recovered from the trash were about 900 suspected fentanyl pills, or 93 grams, and $550. He was carrying another $4,491.04 in cash.
A search of his vehicle in the parking lot led to the discovery and seizure of $14,010, 18 grams of marijuana, 759 grams of suspected fentanyl pills (estimated to be 7,210 pills), 46 grams of cocaine, 24.5 grams of crack cocaine, 40.6 grams of fentanyl powder, 122 grams of methamphetamine and eight alprazolam pills, according to the release. There was also a digital scale and hundreds of small plastic baggies in the vehicle.
SEACAD searched Cox’s residence in the 5000 block of Douglas Highway, where they seized three handguns. Cox is a convicted felon, police said, hence it is illegal for him to possess firearms. They also found a “spice jar” that was tested and contained trace amounts of methamphetamine in the residence.
Cox was taken to Lemon Creek Correctional Center and was expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon.
SEACAD is tasked with investigating drug importation and distribution in the Southeast Alaska region. It is comprised of members of police departments from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Petersburg, Hoonah, Wrangell, Craig and Yakutat, and the Alaska State Troopers, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service and Coast Guard Investigative Service.
• Contact Meredith Jordan at meredith.jordan@juneauempire.com or (907) 615-3190.
