Alaska Man Sentenced for Drug Trafficking Ring

0:00It's March 12, here's your anchorage news in two minutes. A 37-year-old man from Alaska just got hit with a 13-year prison sentence for his part in a major drug trafficking operation. Richard Fry helped move fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin into the state, including a plot to smuggle drugs to the remote illusion town of Sand. Point is recently as last year. Earlier this week, a judge handed down the punishment after several busts in 2023. One big catch happened on March 23 at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, where an accomplice named Anna Petlo was nabbed with, nearly 3,000 fentanyl pills, and over 80 grams of meth headed to Sand Point. Fry and another partner, Tiffany Couch, were waiting nearby in a parking lot vehicle with 500 more fentanyl pills and about 40 grams of other drugs. Fry kept trying his luck. Officers pulled him over in June during a traffic stop and found roughly 1,400 additional fentanyl pills.

1:00He even attempted to sneak drugs into anchorage correctional complex by swallowing wrapped packets which showed up on a body scan and later tried, bringing in 70-suboxone strips after getting out on bail. This whole scheme was run by Heraklio Sanchez Rodriguez, an inmate in a California prison with connections to Alaska. The ring pushed poison into small towns and jails, showing how far traffickers will go. DEA officials are calling the sentencing a win, with special agent Robert Sacone noting it disrupts the flow of deadly drugs to vulnerable, communities, and facilities. This story is made possible by our sponsor, see the episode description. A pillow that plays your podcast, music, or white noise privately, no earbuds required, S-O-L-I, solely pillow.com.