URL: https://www.indianz.com/News/archives/000700.asp

Thursday, August 7, 2003

Federal and tribal authorities say drug traffickers are increasingly turning to Indian Country to pump drugs in the United States.

With reservation law enforcement already stretched thin, officials say they are overwhelmed. On the Tohono O'odham Nation in Arizona, only two drug officers and several Border Patrol agents are assigned to cover a reservation that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border.

"The smugglers have found the path of least resistance," Tohono O'odham Police Chief Richard Saunders told USA Today. "They know it. They take advantage of it every day."

The Bureau of Indian Affairs only has 10 anti-drug agents to serve all Indian Country but is asking for more. The agency now has its own drug czar, Duwayne Honahni Sr.

Get the Story:
Sparsely patrolled Indian reservations become drug traffickers' springboard (USA Today 8/7)

Related Stories:
Inouye bucks critics of homeland security bill (7/31)

All stories in the Indianz.Com Archive are available for publishing under a Creative Commons License: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)