A Bethel man is among three people recently charged in what federal prosecutors say was a conspiracy to traffic large quantities of the painkiller tramadol to Alaska and across the country in 2024.
In federal court documents, investigators accused 38-year-old Ryan Greydanus of receiving a “significant number” of packages containing tramadol sent by two other men named in the indictment: 39-year-old Adil Hussain and 45-year-old Syed Naqvi.
Tramadol is an opioid pain medication considered to have fewer adverse effects and less risk of dependency than other prescription painkillers. As a Schedule IV controlled substance, it also has fewer legal penalties for trafficking and is less regulated than other medications that serve similar functions.
The federal charges for Greydanus stem from a state case in which he was arrested at the Anchorage airport en route to Bethel in March of 2024. Authorities said that he had more than 1,500 tramadol pills with him at the time. Greydanus ultimately pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug possession and was sentenced to two years of probation in that case.
Federal prosecutors/investigators said that those pills seized in Anchorage had allegedly been sent from Arizona by Hussain and Naqvi, according to court documents. Federal authorities said that they identified more packages containing tramadol sent by the men to Greydanus in Alaska after the 2024 case. The filing does not specify where in Alaska the packages were allegedly sent.
In 2024 alone, federal authorities claim that Hussain and Naqvi sent more than 15,000 packages suspected of containing tramadol to locations across the country. The pair were arrested in early March in California, while Greydanus was arrested in Bethel on March 16.
All three have been charged with one count of felony conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Greydanus faces two more similar felony charges. The three counts against Greydanus each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Greydanus was released from federal custody on March 24 and was not listed as being in the custody of the state of Alaska as of March 26.
