Alaska tribe banishes suspected drug dealer from village

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – A Native tribal council has banished a suspected methamphetamine dealer from a northwest Alaska village.

The Anchorage Daily News reported Sunday that the council met the man at the airport, helped pay his air fare and forbid his return to Kiana for up to five years.

The eviction from the community west of Kobuk Valley National Park was the second reported in Alaska in recent weeks.

Protesters in the community of Galena in the state’s interior region collected donations to fly another suspected meth dealer to Fairbanks.

The tribe in Kiana held a hearing in September before issuing a formal banishment order against the man, who left voluntarily.

The Kiana city administrator says banishment is one of the few solutions for protecting its 420 residents from dangerous contraband like meth.
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Information from: Anchorage Daily News, http://www.adn.com