INFORMATION RELEASE

On 03/29/2024, Investigators with the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD) task force, served search warrants at residences in the 500 block of Seward Street and 4000 block of Windfall Ave. The search warrants were related to an ongoing drug investigation by SEACAD, which began in January of 2024.

During the search warrant service at the residence on Windfall Ave, one of the targets of the investigation, 36-year-old Shane Michael Hart, was outside and saw investigators approaching the residence. Hart ran inside and attempted to barricade the front door. Investigators were able to contact Hart and another resident, 29-year-old Mekena Lee Wutzke, soon afterward. Another resident, 56-year-old Deeann Marie Hanson, was not home at the time of the search warrant service. She was located soon afterward in the downtown area, driving a Dodge Durango. During the search warrant service at the residence on Sewards Street,  Investigators contacted the residents, 63-year-old Andrew Cousins, and 55-year-old Tina Renee Cousins, outside in a Toyota Sienna.

During the investigation, SEACAD located and seized the following items believed to be in connection with the use and distribution of controlled substances:

• Approximately 17,000 fentanyl pills
• 94 grams of methamphetamine
• .2 grams of fentanyl powder
• 3 grams of cocaine
• $23,000 cash
• 3 pistols, 1 AR-15 pistol, and 1 disassembled AK-47

The combined value of the seized narcotics is estimated at $341,000.

Hart, Hanson, Wutzke, A. Cousins, and T. Cousins, were placed under arrest on the below charges and taken to the Lemon Creek Correction Center.

36-year-old Shane Michael Hart

• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree, a class A felony offense
• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree, a class B felony offense
• 3 counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the 2nd degree, a class B felony offense
• 3 counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the 3rd degree, a class C felony offense

56-year-old Deeann Marie Hanson

• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree, a class A felony offense
• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree, a class B felony offense
• 3 counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the 2nd degree, a class B felony offense
• 3 counts of Misconduct Involving Weapons in the 3rd degree, a class C felony offense

29-year-old Mekena Lee Wutzke

• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree, a class A felony offense

63-year-old Andrew Dean Cousins

• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree, a class A felony offense

55-year-old Tina Renee Cousins 

• 1 count of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 3rd degree, a class B felony offense

SEACAD, Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs, is a regional task force comprised of municipal police departments from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Haines, Skagway, Petersburg, Hoonah, Wrangell, Craig and Yakutat, the Alaska State Troopers, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Coast Guard Investigative Service. Together, they work to investigate drug importation and distribution in the Southeast Alaska region.