"Headlines in the war on meth were made last week when federal and tribal authorities announced arrests following an interagency undercover operation.

The resulting shared insight into the meth problem on the Navajo Nation was disturbing and all too much a mirror of how the addictive drug is destroying lives and families in other communities throughout the Four Corners and the nation as a whole.

More such joint-custody oversight and investigative clout need to be poured into the problem and on a more consistent basis. We hope this operation is just a beginning, not a sideshow, in a fight for survival.

Nearly two dozen people were charged with dealing methamphetamine on and around the Navajo Nation in an investigation shared by the FBI, Navajo Nation police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, all reported last Thursday.

Investigators believe the supply line for the meth goes from Navajo land to Phoenix to Mexico, where Mexican drug cartels see poverty-stricken areas such as American Indian reservations and their border towns as particularly vulnerable to drug sales and addiction.

One of the more disturbing statistics mentioned with revelation of the investigation is that as many as 95 percent of the violent crimes cases handled by the U.S. attorney's office leading the case have some connection to controlled substances such as meth."

Get the Story:
Editorial: This is a dirty fight that needs to happen (The Farmington Daily Times 4/25)

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Nearly two dozen busted in meth ring on Navajo Nation (4/23)