COUNTERFEITERS IN UNALASKA, ALASKA

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V19 2016 INDEX E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 19, Number 51, December 18, 2016, Article 33

Nothing special here on the counterfeiting side, just the usual pot-addled chowderheads with a photocopier. The location is what's interesting - Unalaska, Alaska, a three-hour flight from Anchorage. "It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from here." You could get there by ferry also - they run every few weeks. Dick Hanscom forwarded this story with the comment, "No place to run, no place to hide". Thanks. -Editor

Police in Unalaska arrested and charged two men over the weekend for allegedly making counterfeit money.

Officers got a tip about the alleged operation while investigating a burglary and theft. Search warrants were obtained for both suspects' homes, according to the public safety department.

"Counterfeiting supplies as well as some U.S. currency in $10, $20 and $100 denominations were found in Zablan's residence," the statement says.

It was the men's statements to police that form the basis of the state's charges. Hough said Zablan washed ink from real money, and used the faded bills and regular paper to produce counterfeits through photocopying; Zablan said he photocopied the money for about a month or two months and was "practicing and getting better," the charges say.

"(Zablan) said he does it for fun and has not tried to pass the bills off as real," the charges say. But his alleged partner in crime told police Zablan used the fakes to buy marijuana.

Here's a blurb from the alaska.org site. -Editor

On the map, Unlaska is a tiny dot far off in the middle of strong seas. But somehow, a diverse group of people make this remote island home, and share its wonders willingly with visitors. Ounalashka Corporation, representing the original Unangan inhabitants of Unalaska, allows those with land use permits to hike around much of the remote and rugged landscape of the Amaknak and Unalaska islands.

Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Unalaska is affixed geographically on the Aleutian chain, and historically in the midst of 10,000-year-old Unangan culture, and in the eras of Russian fur traders, Captain Cook, World War II, and of a commercial fishing industry that ranks above all others in the United States.

Unalaska, the small, wind-swept volcanic rock, draws researchers, tourists, adventurers, birders, World War II buffs, fishermen, and seasonal workers – so many that the population swells from about 4,000 in winter to nearly 10,000 in summer.

I think there are 4,000 people in my son's high school (seems that way, anyway). -Editor

To read the complete article, see:
Unalaska (www.alaska.org/destination/dutch-harbor-unalaska)