The New York Times ran two big articles on drug trafficking in Indian Country, citing a rise in the drug trade on reservations across the United States.

Drug traffickers have targeted reservations near the Canadian and Mexican borders, due to limited law enforcement and jurisdictional issues. Tribal members, men and women alike, have become active participants, overseeing major drug rings that take in millions of dollars.

On the Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York, John V. Oakes was part of a system that allegedly brings in more than $1 billion annually in high-grade marijuana and Ecstasy across the Canadian border. He pleaded guilty to selling drugs to undercover agents, after a raid found 17,000 tablets of Ecstasy, worth $340,000 on the street, and two pounds of high-grade marijuana in his heavily-secured compound on the reservation.

On the Lummi Reservation in Washington, Eugenia Phair, 26, ran an OxyContin ring that employed several Indian women as mules to bring the drug in from Canada. Her father and even her grandmother were involved too, and both have spent time in jail for selling drugs. Phair just got out of prison after doing 20 months on drug charges and with four kids to worry about, she insists she isn't going back to the trade.

Tribal and local law enforcement officials say they have few resources to combat the problem. Some say they are hampered by tribal officials whom they claim have connections to some of the traffickers.

Darrel Hillaire, the chairman of the Lummi Nation, said tribal leaders only have themselves to blame for the scourge of drugs that is ravaging Native people. "Until it becomes the No. 1 priority in Indian Country, we'll continue to play this blame game, and we'll get nothing done," he told The New York Times.

Get the Story:
Drug Traffickers Find Haven in Shadows of Indian Country (The New York Times 2/19)
pwnyt
Dizzying Rise and Abrupt Fall for a Reservation Drug Dealer (The New York Times 2/20)

Related Stories:
St. Croix Band hears dangers of methamphetamine (01/19)
Chippewa Cree Tribe launches anti-meth campaign (01/12)
Tribe's public defender held on meth charges (01/04)
Tribe's public defender charged in meth conspiracy (12/21)
Opinion: Tribes, state to combat meth problem (11/28)
Washoe Tribe joins fight against meth (11/01)
Crow Chairman: 'We have a meth epidemic' (10/26)
Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe hosts meth summit (10/07)
NAIHC expands program to deal with meth problem (09/29)
U.S. claims 400 meth arrests in 'Operation Wildfire' (08/31)
Washoe Tribe says meth invading communities (08/18)
Methamphetamine called a big problem for tribes (8/11)
Navajo Nation counts 32 active gangs, 500 members (08/05)
Reservation meth dealer given life prison sentence (07/08)
Nevada tribe concerned about methamphetamine use (06/22)
Plan seeks to combat meth problem in Montana (03/22)
Navajo police find methamphetamine in car (03/04)
Meth use a serious problem among Native youth (02/25)
Officials praise Navajo methamphetamine law (2/21)
Navajo Nation Council passes methamphetamine law (02/14)
Methamphetamine use explodes on reservation (2/7)
Idaho tribe to sign law enforcement agreement (02/03)
Navajo Nation peyote, meth legislation on hold (11/11)
Reservations called breeding ground for meth (11/08)
Navajo community worried about meth trafficking (10/20)
Film to expose dangers of meth on Navajo Nation (06/17)
Task force cracks drug rings in Indian Country (06/07)
Authorities bust drug ring on Oklahoma tribal land (05/06)
Calif. tribe, local police break up drug ring (01/29)