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Partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 67F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph..
A few clouds. Low near 40F. Winds light and variable.
Serving Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue and Carey
A team of local and state law enforcement officers recovered more than 4 pounds of cocaine, 19 rifles and handguns, large sums of cash and multiple boxes of ammunition during a raid early Wednesday morning in the Woodside section of Hailey.
Hailey resident Kerry Christiansen, 61, faces five felony charges including felony cocaine trafficking, two counts of felony possession of a controlled substance, felony unlawful firearm possession and felony introduction of illegal contraband into the Blaine County Jail.
Christiansen was booked into the Blaine County Detention Center at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. His spouse, Karen Christiansen, was booked into the jail around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on one count of felony drug possession.
According to a police report filed with the court by Blaine County Sheriff’s Detective Kerri Taylor, police executed a search warrant at the couple’s residence on the 1400 block of Woodside Boulevard around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.
At the same time, Blaine County Sheriff’s Detective Steve Hansen, Lt. Fabrizio Lizano and Sgt. John Lowder entered Kerry Christiansen’s workplace in Hailey to inform him of the warrant. Christiansen allegedly admitted that he had “a couple of grams” in the truck and stated that he was “in trouble,” according to Taylor’s report.
According to two Woodside residents, around eight local officers and a pair of state troopers carried boxes out of the home for several hours Wednesday morning and stacked them in a gray truck.
Hailey resident Mary Clare Griffin, who said she passed the scene in the morning on the way to drop off her dog at a boarding facility, told the Express that she watched officers open a “fridge-sized safe” using a blowtorch.
According to Taylor’s report, police first seized Christiansen’s green Dodge pickup. They recovered four paper-wrapped packages inside the truck that contained a “white powdery substance” and tested the powder, which showed a presumptive-positive result for cocaine in a field test, Taylor stated.
In a home office, officers allegedly found a large black “Bighorn Classic” safe, a computer desk covered in “a white powdery substance” and several paper-wrapped bindles “within the cubbies of the desk and behind and around the computer monitor” consistent with cocaine use, packaging and delivery, Taylor wrote.
Boxes underneath the desk also contained several paper-wrapped bindles, “bottles with a white powder substance consistent with cocaine,” a membership card with the name “Kerry Christiansen” on it and “snuff bullets” and 4-oz. vacuum-sealed bags filled with white powder.
The twelve 4-oz. vacuum-sealed bags found under the desk totaled around 1,344 grams, or around 3 pounds of cocaine.
Officers then opened the nearly five-foot-long safe and discovered a large amount of cash, both loose and “in bank bags and envelopes,” and seven rifles, six handguns, and a large amount of ammunition.
Also in the safe was “a small cardboard box” containing three more paper-wrapped packages of cocaine, a smaller safe “containing a large amount of U.S. currency” and passports belonging to Kerry Christiansen and his wife, Karen Christiansen.
Two additional bags with white powder and one bag with “two vials of liquid marked ‘MMC Cocaine Test’ and ‘MMC Cocaine Cutting Agent Test’” were recovered in the safe, Taylor stated.
In the master bedroom, spare bedroom and in the rear of the home, police seized a “large” sum of money, several more paper-wrapped packages of cocaine, “snuff bullets” with white powder and two foil-wrapped Oxycodone pills. Additional currency was found in another silver pickup truck at the residence, Taylor stated.
Altogether, police found $302,000 in cash between the Christiansen’s home and vehicles, according to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office.
Six additional firearms were recovered in the master bedroom and office.
On Wednesday, Hailey Police Chief Steve England told the Express that Christiansen had been monitored by members of the Blaine County Narcotics Enforcement Team for “a while.”
“The [drug task force] made us aware of the individual they were looking at and that they had tracked him to his residence,” England said.
England estimated the cocaine to be worth $80,000.
Christiansen was charged with felony contraband introduction during booking at the Blaine County Jail after a detention deputy located a “bullet container with a purple top and white powder substance” during a routine pat-down, according to Taylor’s report.
His unlawful firearm possession charge is related to two prior felony drug convictions in Wyoming, in 1982 and 1992, according to a charging document filed by Blaine County prosecuting attorney Matthew Fredback. (Idaho law forbids felons from possessing any gun or rifle.)
Both Kerry and Karen Christiansen appeared in Fifth District Court for arraignment on Thursday afternoon, at which time Kerry was being held on $75,000 bond and Karen on $1,000 bond.
It’s unclear if any further federal drug charges are expected for the couple, each of whom will return to court the afternoon of Sept. 29 for preliminary hearings. 
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