State, federal agents make early morning visit to Nenana artist’s home

FAIRBANKS — A dozen state and federal law enforcement officials converged on the home of Nenana artist and woodsman Miles Martin early Tuesday morning.

They asked questions and confiscated some property but did not make any arrests, Martin said after the officials had left his property.

He declined to say why he was being investigated, saying officials are continuing their investigation and he does not want to jeopardize his case.

He did say the group included staff from the Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The group behaved professionally, he said, although having them arrive suddenly about 7 a.m. came as a shock.

“When they arrived, everyone was sneaking around with guns drawn,” he said. They wanted to know how many people were on the property. Once they saw I was cooperative, the guns got be put down.

“I think it was their intention to arrive while I was asleep, but I was already up.”

Martin said the officers read him his rights and presented a search warrant. From the information they had, it was clear they had been investigating him for several years, Martin said. They also hinted that others were being investigated, he said.

Early in the visit, he said, they asked him to put weapons in a pile and to not go near it. They asked his girlfriend to stand outside the home, even though she was wearing a bath gown, which he said concerned him.

They stayed at his home until 4:15 p.m. When they left, they took boxes of confiscated property, Martin said. They left him with a list of things they had taken, he said.

“There was no bad feeling,” he said. “They left and said we’ll be in touch.”

Martin is known in Fairbanks for his booth at the Tanana Valley State Fair. He makes and sells artwork and also sells raw materials such as tusks, antlers, teeth, claws and rocks, according to his website.

He has written a book about 25 years he spent living on a houseboat in Alaska.

Several other Nenana residents mentioned seeing vehicles of federal and state agencies at Martin’s home Tuesday, but no agency representatives were immediately able to comment on the events at Martin’s home.

Megan Peters, a spokeswoman with the Alaska State Troopers, said she did not have any information about a multi-agency raid in Nenana and said she would not be able to speak about trooper involvement if troopers were not the lead agency.

Read more: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - State federal agents make early morning visit to Nenana artist’s home