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Feds Seize Thousands Of Fentanyl Pills In Indian Country

Drugs
Department of the Interior
In May of 2018, the Department of Interior said it's seized nearly 10,000 fentanyl pills and other drugs during a weeklong operation on Arizona tribal land.

The Interior Department seized $4.8 million in drugs during a weeklong sting operation on Arizona tribal land.

The drug bust netted nearly 10,000 fentanyl pills, 48 pounds of meth, 863 pounds of marijuana, $30,000 in cash and 86 arrests. The operation was the second led by the Interior's joint task force that was established to end the opioid epidemic.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs worked with federal, state and tribal agencies to crack down on drugs on the Tohono O'odham and Gila River reservations earlier this month.

Indian Country and rural areas have been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. Eight hundred people died in Arizona last year from overdoses.

Laurel Morales was a Fronteras Desk senior field correspondent in Flagstaff from 2011 to 2020.