SEATTLE -- A federal magistrate set $2 million bail for Alan Wayne Hurley, who had eluded lawmen for nine years and became one of the nation's most wanted fugitives.
U.S. Magist-ratZr Philip Sweigert vsaizrZB the ?4highZPZqail for LurlZry, 37,hot-4ll4d$ vkMeep h?-mo b?4eHn4iVoAiuured Saturday, had been sought by federal agents for U?9ane yeaz4rs and had sneaked or shot his way to freedom at least 10 times, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshal's Office said.
In 1975, he escaped from a jail in Anchorage, Alaska, where he was awaiting sentencing for theft of interstate shipments. During the escape, he allegedly assaulted a corrections officer.
Described as an expert woodsman, gunsmith, pilot and an accomplished weightlifter, Hurley has been involved in drug trafficking for the past several years, often setting up elaborate, booby-trapped approaches to his hideouts and using at least nine aliases, the spokesman said.
Several years ago, Hurley escaped when officers tripped several such alarms leading to a hideout in Portland, Ore., the spokesman said.
Hurley was listed by the U.S. Marshal's office as one of the 15 most wanted fugitives. Information provided last week by Alaska state troopers in a probe of marijuana-growing operations and narcotics distribution indicated he was hiding near Bellingham, Wash.
He was arrested without incident on Lake Whatcom Saturday as he was loading personal belongings into a float plane. Nearby, a police raid on a Sudden Valley home where Hurley allegedly lived turned up a sophisticated marijuana-growing operation, court documents said.
