November 20, 2009 in City

Cartels stretching tribal police

In testimony to Senate panel, Colvilles’ top cop says federal drug trafficking program could work in Indian Country

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Matt Haney, police chief of the Colville Confederated Tribes, has two officers by day and three by night to patrol the 2,275 square miles of reservation under his jurisdiction.

Even with those limited resources, in recent years his department has seized more than 45,000 marijuana plants in outdoor growing operations he said are financed and directed by Mexican drug gangs.

Vast areas and small police forces are among the reasons drug cartels think reservations are “great places” to do their work, he said: “I’m not naive enough to believe we’re catching anywhere near the total number of marijuana grows on our reservation.”

Haney was one of four witnesses who told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee on Wednesday about growing gang influence and drug smuggling on tribal lands all over the country. Mexican cartels also target Indian reservations because a poor populace can be recruited into their drug supply chains.

More than half a million marijuana plants have been seized in Washington this year, most from outdoor growing operations thought to be operated by Mexican drug gangs.

Haney, who told senators he thinks tribal governments are barely making a dent in the cartel’s efforts, said expanding a federal program known as High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas could help coordinate drug control agencies in certain regions. Washington was designated as a high-intensity area in 1996 but only certain counties, including Spokane County, have task forces operating. Haney thinks if the federal government establishes one on the Colville Reservation, it could see a quick return on its investment.

“There’s never been a HIDTA in Indian Country,” he said. “What I’m saying is why not try one?”

The director of the program, Arnold Moorin, agreed Indian reservations are used by cartels because of their remote locations and poverty. The program has not designated a new drug trafficking area since 2001, he added.

Senators on the committee, while not considering any legislation, seemed receptive to the idea of expanding HIDTA to tribal areas. The program “could serve as a model for the development of a collaborative effort between individual tribes to provide law enforcement assistance to each other,” Sen. Maria Cantwell said in a statement.

The committee chairman, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said the government might have overlooked Indian Country’s needs when it designated the areas: “This question of dealing with drug use on Indian reservations and gang activity, it seems to me that’s been left behind a bit in terms of where the money has gone.”

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Five comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  empyrius on November 20 at 12:50 a.m.

  As usual, the government creates more problems than solves! Decriminalizing marijuana would not only be a massive boost to our state's economy, it would eliminate well over half of the illicit drug-trade, it would allow law enforcement to concentrate on combating the hard drugs such as cracked cocaine and meth, and, far more importantly, Americans would actually be free to smoke a joint. Plant a freedom plant, marijuana that is, today!

  Spokanites, rise up to the occasion my fellow God-fearing, freedom-loving, unjust big government hating fellow Americans, and just say no to governmental “social engineers” who strive to make us abide by their corporate-lobbyist informed notions of “right” & “wrong”! We must fight for our freedom to pursue our happiness; we harm not our fellow man, and yet “the man” throws us into their prisons and steals our property and land! Enough! Remember Breckenridge (CO)! The feds say, “no, marijuana is pure evil” (but we have the patent on it by the way), while WA state says, “yes, the green is good for some” …: fie upon their incompetent “justice”! Let freedom ring Spokane and outright decriminalize the green! Let us show this nation once more that freedom cannot forever be unjustly constrained, and let the tyranny of tyrants be washed away not with blood but with the beauty of God's green bud! Yeah baby, the green revolution is upon us!

  pax vobiscum
  

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  Sugar Shane on November 20 at 7:57 a.m.

  I think Thomas Jefferson said it best “If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so”. Stop letting the drug cartels have all the money and regulate and tax this gift from God (see genesis 1:12).

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  Megan_B on November 20 at 11:33 a.m.

  I'm not against legalizing marijuana (as long as alcohol is legal than it's hypocritical to not legalize it) but there are some points to consider for people who push the arguments about taxes and that its not (so) bad for you.

  First of all, there are health risks to using marijuana, especially if it's smoked - which is the most popular form. All of the progress our country has made getting people to quit smoking will be pulled back to square one if everyone starts smoking joints (which has been shown to cause lung cancer when comparing statistics to countries with legal marijuana usage.) And second of all, some taxes will be collected, true enough, but a majority of people would be able to simply grow their own, or buy it form someone they know who does - thus eliminating the tax benefit.

  Finally, to argue that only adults would utilize marijuana (and only responsibly) is naive. Just as with alcohol and tobacco, having the substance legal only multiplies the amount of minors who are able to get their hands on it. Many of them already use it, but legalizing it sends signals to those that don't that it's actually okay.

  Like I said before, I'm not completely against the legalization due to the fact that alcohol, which kills thousands of people every year, is legal. I just think that's it's important that we tread carefully, and remind ourselves of the risks involved. In a perfect world we would all know how to have a good time and relax without the “help” of mind-altering substances, but I'm realistic enough to know that is only in a made-up dream world (unfortunately for us and unfortunately for our health).

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  123456 on November 20 at 11:34 a.m.

  Hard to believe the Mexifornia drug cartel wastes their time on weed. My guess is that these growers are locally grown casino owners.

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  shanusmaximus on November 20 at 1:53 p.m.

  The drug war is and always has been an abject failure.
  I have always been for decriminalization. However, I do not think outright legalizing and taxing is the answer. Seriously, would you smoke a substance from the same people that make the cigarettes? Because you know damn well that if it were legalized the corporations would be all over it like ticks on a dog.
  I could see how that would go down…..people who didn't want the government stamp or the government “potency experts” mucking around in their plants, would end up still going to jail for growing. This time though it would be tax evasion and distribution of an untested substance. Don't invite that vampire into your house…..

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