Deadliest Catch Employee Trapped in Giant Drug Sting
In charges stemming from a months-long undercover investigation of the Unalaska drug trade, police have charged a production manager for the hit cable TV show "Deadliest Catch" with using and selling cocaine.
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Source: Deadliest Catch Employee Trapped in Giant Drug Sting
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All told, Unalaska police say they seized more than $80,000 worth of methamphetamine, OxyContin, cocaine and marijuana in two separate investigations that filled the city jail late last month. Eighteen people have been charged so far, with more cases in the works, said Unalaska public safety director Jamie Sunderland. Matthew J. Schneider, a 22-year-old who police say worked behind the scenes on "Deadliest Catch," is still on the loose and thought to be in California. As of Wednesday, he appeared to be the only person working on the show to be charged. Police accuse Schneider of delivering $300 worth of cocaine to an undercover officer posing as a young man who was looking for work and for drugs in the Aleutian Chain fishing town of 3,600, according to charges filed April 27. Schneider -- who was sometimes recorded by police -- often talked about selling drugs and said his supervisor on the television show "occasionally imported large amounts of cocaine from California to Alaska for distribution at 'Deadly Catch' parties," the charges say. The undercover officer on March 19 talked to Schneider inside the Harbor View Inn about buying cocaine, the charges say. Schneider suggested giving money for the drugs to another man, Cameron Hutchins, that night, police say. The officer gave Hutchins $300 and, the next day, Schneider provided the cocaine, according to the charges. Schneider faces one count each of third and fourth-degree felony drug charges. Hutchins, who was arrested last month, faces eight counts. The trend-setter for a string of Alaska-based reality shows, "Deadliest Catch" made Unalaska a household word. Asked if anyone else affiliated with the show was caught in the sting, the police chief was cryptic. "No one that has been charged currently," he said. |
Source: Deadliest Catch Employee Trapped in Giant Drug Sting
