Mexican drug cartels are targeting tribes in Washington and using their reservations to grow marijuana, authorities said.

In 2008, 2009 and 2010, authorities found record amounts of marijuana in Indian Country. On the Yakama Nation alone, 204,479 plants were seized in 2008.

Overall, marijuana found in Indian Country accounted for nearly a quarter of all seizures in the state in 2010. Limited law enforcement and the remote nature of some reservations make them an easy target.

"With the size of our reservation, there currently isn't adequate manpower just to patrol it. I'd equate it with the U.S. Border Patrol problem," Yakama Chairman Harry Smiskin told The Seattle Times.

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Marijuana growers find cover on tribal lands (The Seattle Times 8/24)