Mexican drug gangs are contributing to a rise in crime on reservations in the West, tribal leaders and federal authorities said at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee last week.

The gangs started on the West Coast and are moving east. Their targets include the Colville Reservation in Washington, where police have seen two gang fights, one drive-by shooting and a homicide in the last eight months, and the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, where a major methamphetamine ring was located.

"It is these vulnerable areas that allow outside influences to target reservations," testified Ivan Posey, the chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe of Wyoming.

The gangs go after reservations due to limited law enforcement and jurisdictional problems in Indian Country, according to authorities.

Get the Story:
Mexican gangs bring drugs, violence to Native American lands (Scripps Howard News Service 11/24)

Committee Hearing:
OVERSIGHT HEARING to examine drug smuggling and gang activity in Indian country (November 19, 2009)

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