A fifth man has been arrested in relation to a meth bust in the Kenai area.
Sgt. Robert Hunter, who supervises the Soldotna section of the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit, said troopers arrested Dustin Leavitt, 40, of Nikiski on Thursday. He was arrested on one charge of third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and a charge of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, Hunter said.
The arrest comes in the wake of a three-week investigation by the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit — under the Alaska State Troopers — which culminated in troopers seizing about 32 grams of methamphetamines, 1.2 grams of heroin, prescriptions pills, money and firearms on Wednesday in the Kenai area, according to an online trooper dispatch.
Nikiski resident Rudy Bongolan, 42, and Kenai residents Richard Paul Morrison, 36, Sidney Paul Clark, 32, and Chelsee Mansfield, 23, were all arrested Wednesday in connection with the case.
According to an affidavit signed by Investigator Christopher Jaime, troopers were approached in December by a person who “wanted to work as a Confidential Informant to purchase drugs.” The individual was vetted through the Alaska State Troopers, according to the report.
According to the affidavit, the confidential informant has known Morrison for a number of years and told troopers “Morrison likes to show off and refuses to grow up,” and that “it would be better for the community if Morrison was in jail.”
Jaime wrote in the affidavit that the informant met with Morrison at his home and purchased amounts of meth on three separate occasions from Jan. 8 to Jan. 19, which were turned over to troopers and tested “presumptive positive” for the drug.
The samples have since been sent to the Alaska Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory for analysis, according to the affidavit.
Leavitt was later identified as the man who brought the meth to Morrison’s house during the last transaction on Jan. 19, according to the affidavit.
Morrison was contacted by troopers Wednesday during a traffic stop, and a search warrant was served at his home. There, Hunter found a shotgun that had been modified and cut to measure just over 16 inches, making it illegal, along with “numerous baggies and materials used to make bindles, a digital scale, and one Oxycodone,” according to the affidavit.
Bongolan, Clark and Mansfield were all contacted at a house in Kenai on Wednesday, where troopers found weapons, cash, meth and heroin, according to an affidavit signed by Investigator Levi Russell.
When found asleep in one of the bedrooms, Clark became aggressive with troopers and “continued to fight and resist officers” after they used pepper spray on him, according to the report.
Morrison, Bongolan, Clark and Mansfield were arraigned at the Kenai Courthouse on Thursday, and each had an attorney appointed to their case, according to Courtview. Leavitt will be arraigned at the Kenai Courthouse on Friday, Hunter said.
Hunter said this investigation took slightly less time than others the unit has undertaken, but that they all vary in the amount of time they will take.
“We try to put these cases together in a way that they stand, they hold together,” he said. “And it’s a timely process.”
The Soldotna team of the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit is made up of Hunter along with a Kenai Police Officer and an Alaska State Trooper.
Reach Megan Pacer at megan.pacer@peninsulaclarion.com.
