Agents with the U.S. Border Patrol and Alaska Wildlife Troopers joined for an aerial patrol of the Taku River area northeast of Juneau on Monday, following earlier assertions by officials the area might be a route for drug smuggling, but no enforcement actions were taken, according to the two agencies.
The flight in an AWT helicopter was, however, an opportunity for the Border Patrol’s Blaine Sector office to showcase their presence in Southeast after two agents were stationed full-time in Juneau several months ago.
“Patrolling the wild frontier!” the Blaine office declared in a post on its Facebook page Wednesday. “On Monday, Agents and Alaska Wildlife Troopers partnered for aerial patrols near the Taku River in Juneau, AK where Alaska meets Canada. Our presence in Alaska is growing and we are just getting started!”
Agents with Alaska Wildlife Troopers and the U.S. Border patrol board a helicopter for a patrol flight over the Taku River on Monday, May 19, 2025. (U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector photo)
The possibility of drugs and other illegal activity involving the Taku River, along with other navigable waterways that cross into Alaska from Canada, was raised by Ross Wilkin, patrol agent in charge of the Border Patrol’s Blaine Sector office, in an interview with the Empire in January.
“It is one of the identified areas of risk, if you will, because of the ease of mobility,” he said. “There is no port of entry. There are people crossing the border on a regular basis without checking in, without being inspected. A lot of these people are legitimate travelers who are bringing fish to Juneau or whatever. They’re not engaged in criminal activity. But we have, I’ll say, reporting and technology because that’s part of our laydown — with two agents they can’t cover this vast and challenging environment, so we have to use technology to make those assessments and cue the agents so they’re not looking for a needle in a haystack, if you will.”
However, no arrests for illegal activity happened as a result of Monday’s flight, according to Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Alaska State Troopers.
“No enforcement action was taken by Troopers or federal law enforcement during the short patrol,” he wrote in an email to the Empire on Thursday.
The joint patrol was part of a larger “team effort” made by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, McDaniel noted.
“Just as federal law enforcement regularly help Troopers accomplish our mission both in Alaska and in the lower 48, we regularly provide federal law enforcement with assistance when possible,” he wrote.
The decision to station two Border Patrol agents in Juneau — with the intent of working with local, tribal and state officials on activities such as drugs — occurred before U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term in January, Wilkin said.
However, Trump’s heightened focus on immigration and refugees has resulted in Border Patrol raids and arrests in various parts of Alaska. Last Friday a Mexican woman who overstayed her visa was arrested in Anchorage on charges of second-degree theft that allegedly occurred last November and deported, according to the Blaine sector office.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
The Taku River as seen Monday, May 19, 2025, from an Alaska Wildlife Troopers helicopter carrying U.S. Border Patrol agents during a patrol flight. (U.S. Border Patrol Blaine Sector photo)
