Federal-Tribal Task Force Takes Down Crack Dealers in Gila River Indian Community

Five arrested following two-year tribal undercover operation PHOENIX Tribal and Federal police executed search warrants at several homes this morning in and near the Gila River Indian Reservation in Arizona, arresting five people on charges of dealing crack cocaine and methamphetamine in the Community. In an undercover operation lasting more than two years, the Gila River Police Special Enforcement Unit, supported by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs drug unit, zeroed in on people with a known history of dealing crack and meth out of their homes in the Gila River Community. Crack and meth have ripped apart families and communities across the country, and are known contributors to high rates of violence in Native American communities, said Dennis K. Burke, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. We have joined with our law enforcement partners in Gila River and the BIA to say ˜We will not tolerate this in Arizona. The five defendants will make their initial appearances today at 3:00 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Phoenix. More arrests are expected in coming days and more information will be released. The operation comes after another multi-jurisdictional task force take down in February in the Colorado River Indian Community, which resulted in three arrests on charges of dealing meth in Indian Country. Prosecutions are pending in those cases. The U.S. Attorneys Office has zero tolerance for federal drug offenses occurring in Indian Country and works together with Tribal Nations, communities and all law enforcement to fight the drug trade and its impact. The investigation in this case was conducted by the Gila River Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs.