Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), predominantly linked to Mexican cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation, are intensifying their grip on Alaska’s illicit drug trade, importing fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine from Mexico and the lower 48 states. Recent operations reveal a web of active networks according to official databases from the FBI, DHS, and Alaska Department of Public Safety (DPS). For instance, Operation Take Back America led to charges against 39 defendants in 2025 for drug trafficking tied to transnational groups, while a 2024 bust indicted 54 individuals in a large-scale ring. Smaller operations, such as a 10-defendant group in 2023 and a seven-person network trafficking from California in 2025, underscore fragmented but persistent activity.
“The FBI, HSI, and our partners in Alaska are using a whole of government approach to protect Alaskans from transnational criminal organizations and the scourge of violent crime and deadly drugs they bring to our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office.
Over the past five years (2020-2024), TCO operations have trended upward, mirrored by escalating drug seizures and enforcement actions. Alaska DPS reported a 76% spike in total drug seizures from 324,766 grams in 2023 to 572,536 grams in 2024, with methamphetamine jumping 89% to 148,316 grams and fentanyl rising 13% to 93,853 grams. Arrests reached 175 unique individuals in 2024, fueling 497 court cases. FBI indictments have grown, from groups of 10-53 defendants in 2023-2024 to the 39 in 2025’s operation, aligning with national synthetic opioid trends.
TCOs are lured to Alaska by lucrative profits: drug prices soar several times higher than in the contiguous U.S. due to remoteness and transport hurdles, amplified by high demand in urban centers like Anchorage (78% of seizures) and rural areas. Alcohol bans in 96 “local option” communities spawn smuggling parallels, with seizures surging 400% to 8,504 liters in 2024.
These groups expand by leveraging mail parcels, air travel, and encrypted apps for coordination, recruiting local couriers via social media fakes, and adapting routes through cross-border networks and money laundering. The 2025 launch of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) in Alaska aims to dismantle them through multi-agency efforts.
For more information on the Homeland Security Task Force, visit FBI Anchorage.
They would go out of business pretty quickly if Alaskans quit buying. Maybe we should consider working that angle.
These drugs are extremely addictive and once a person is dependent and the physical damages occur, it’s nearly impossible for them to come clean.
driving between three bears in pittman and big lake there is 5 pot retail shops . up the parks theres several more by wilolw . several more than liquor stores
tell me this drug doesnt contribute to the ” hard” drug problem here in alaska
I agree but obviously the politicians love of the tax revenue to spend as well as the will of so many residents who apparently love the satisfaction of the high to get them through long periods of cabin fever without realizing the long term degradation of society and most importantly what the effects have on children.
Could that be a contributing factor to Alaska being “49th” when it comes to learning as well?
Elections have consequences.
It will be interesting to watch (from a distance) the effects of Socialism in New York city with Barack Obama’s muslim buddy in charge.
Not only do they love the tax revenue, but they love keeping the population compliant and in a perpetual stupor.
In Alaska, the push to settle these crime groups had settled in earlier than five years ago. We have them in abundance here on Alaska. All over here, north and Southeast. To DHS and the FBI and ICE, happy hunting and you have my support. Hope the Muslim Brotherhood is put in the terrorist list by this Administration and DOJ. Let’s not stop with a few but time to clean house in America.
Give the drug dealers a fair trial. Then hang them. Lock the dope fiends up in a concentration style work/farm camp. One chance only.