$1.2 million worth of drugs stolen from police evidence

$1.2 million worth of drugs were stolen from a Nebraska State Patrol evidence room during the summer of 2021. The drugs include over 150 pounds of marijuana, 19 pounds of cocaine, 10 pounds fentanyl, 9 pounds of heroin, 3 pounds of meth and other substances.

The absence of the drugs was discovered last month in an routine audit conducted by the Lincoln Police Department. This came after a series of overdoses between July 25 and August 19 that led to the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department issuing a Health Alert. During this period of time there were 35 overdoses and 9 deaths caused by fentanyl-laced cocaine. Testing is still being completed to ascertain how many of the overdoses were related to the stolen drugs.

A State Patrol evidence technician, Anna Idigima, and her boyfriend, George Weaver Jr., were arrested and charged for the theft and intent to distribute the drugs. Idigma, who worked for the department for 14 years, was suspended during the investigation and fired in August. Both Idigma and Weaver pled not-guilty and their bail has been set at $3 million. They face twenty years in prison under their current federal charges.

Lancaster County identified 116 open cases that needed to be reviewed. Of those, 66 have been closed and 43 more were still under review. If a case involving the missing drugs is still awaiting trial, there is a chance it will be dismissed. Reviews are also taking place in 13 other counties. The amount of information that law enforcement can disclose about cases that are dismissed is highly limited due to protective laws. When charges are dropped by prosecution, courts must seal the cases and criminal justice agencies must respond to public inquiry as if any criminal record did not exist. This law is to insure individuals won’t face discrimination for dismissed cases, but it also makes discerning which cases are dropped because of missing evidence difficult.

The Nebraska State Patrol has announced that there will be a review of the handling of evidence and procedure for storage. They maintain that auditing and evidence storage processes meet the standards set by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

By Aubrey Benton