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Barrow man arrested for shipping cocaine

January 27th 2:42 pm | Hannah Heimbuch Print this article   Email this article   Create a Shortlink for this article

Barrow resident Zoran Antoski, 60, was arrested at his home last Wednesday on narcotics charges.

The arrest warrant stemmed from an incident on July 29, 2011, when a box Antoski had shipped to himself from Fairbanks was found to contain 410 grams of cocaine, 258 grams of marijuana and two bottles of alcohol.

According to an affidavit filed by Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team Investigator Gary Pacolt, Antoski denied knowledge of the illegal substances during the investigation. He claimed the box contained only groceries and clothing for himself and his wife in Barrow, and that he packed them exactly as they had come from Fred Meyer's shelves in Fairbanks.

However, further investigation matched Antoski's fingerprints to prints on the items inside and one of the bags of cocaine, hidden inside a coffee can. Officers also discovered a gram of cocaine on Antoski's person at the time of his arrest last week.

Pacolt led the investigation and arrest, which included USPS investigators and North Slope Borough Police.

Last July, Northern Air Cargo personnel contacted Pacolt regarding a 50-pound box suspected of containing hazardous material. After the box was shipped to Anchorage for further inspection, a drug detection canine, aptly named "Kilo," confirmed the presence of narcotics. Pacolt was able to contact Antoski by phone, and got not only confirmation that the box was his, but permission to open it.

Inside, Pacolt found a number of items, including six Yuban coffee containers. The seals had been broken and re-glued on two of the containers. Pacolt found multiple baggies of white powder in one, and marijuana in another.

Pacolt said postal shipments are a common method of drug transfer to rural Alaska, as well as freight shipments, airline luggage and transportation on the person. He called this particular shipment average to large in size, but said there's no real way to know how much cocaine or marijuana arrives successfully into the Arctic region.

While shipments like these are intercepted from time to time, Pacolt added, "Not often enough."

Pacolt noted that an influx of dangerous narcotics into any community is so often a catalyst for other crimes — especially domestic violence and assaults.

This case qualifies as a felony offense, and Pacolt believes the solid evidence collected will land the alleged dealer a lengthy jail stint.

"I would love him to be out of commission," he said.

Antoski is charged with two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance and one count of transporting alcohol by common carrier.

Antoski was remanded to the Barrow jail, and a Thursday hearing set his bail at $15,000.

 

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