ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — FBI director Kash Patel visited New Mexico to meet with tribal leaders on how to stop drug trafficking on tribal lands in the state.
Patel met with pueblo leaders from seven pueblos – Jemez, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Tesuque, Sandia, Zia and Taos – as well as Ramah Navajo leaders and police from Jicarilla Apache and Zuni. Patel said there are 400 agents and staff dedicated to working in tribal areas as part of Operation Steadfast Promise.
“We covered how to combat narcotics trafficking in tribal lands, the challenges reservations and tribal police face in addressing opioid epidemic and cartel activity on tribal lands and the ramifications of the previous years of open borders flooding New Mexico tribal communities with deadly drugs – all of which this FBI is working with our tribal partners to address,” Patel posted on social media.
Patel touted 29 Safe Trails Task Forces and adding 50 FBI National Academy spots to address crime on tribal lands in the U.S. He described the drug-busting efforts as “historic”.
“Over the last 18 months alone, we’ve seized nearly 13 kilos of cocaine from tribal lands – twice the amount seized in the previous four years combined. We’ve also seized nearly 123 kilograms of deadly meth from tribal communities in the last 18 months,” Patel claimed.
