Pubdate: Fri, 09 Jun 2006
Source: Casper Star-Tribune (WY)
Copyright: 2006 Casper Star-Tribune
Contact:  http://www.casperstartribune.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/765
Author: Jared Miller, Star-Tribune staff writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

AGENCIES CLOSE DRUG ENFORCEMENT GAP

ETHETE -- When Doug Noseep became chief of the Wind River Indian 
Reservation police in 2003, he knew his office was no match for the 
drug dealers.

At 2.2 million acres, Wind River is the third largest reservation in 
the United States, and just 10 Bureau of Indian Affairs officers were 
assigned there.

Meanwhile, a gang of Mexican nationals was trafficking a 
quarter-million dollars worth of methamphetamine a month on the 
reservation, recruiting tribal members to sell the drugs.

Noseep, a member of the Eastern Shoshone Tribe, grew up in Fremont 
County, where most of the reservation is located. He earned a 
criminal justice degree in Nebraska and trained in BIA law 
enforcement in New Mexico before returning to Wind River in the 
mid-1990s to work as a cop.

After he became chief, Noseep reached out to other law enforcement 
agencies to help fight meth. The effort marked a new chapter in the 
sometimes-strained relationships between reservation and 
off-reservation law enforcement agencies in central Wyoming.

By the fall of 2004, the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation 
drug enforcement team in Riverton had welcomed a BIA officer as a 
permanent member. The partnership opened a critical link for 
intelligence sharing between reservation and off-reservation law 
enforcement in Fremont County.

"It was unprecedented for us to be on the state task force," Noseep said.

Leaders of the reservation's Northern Arapaho and Eastern Shoshone 
tribes also recognized the meth problem by then. In August 2005, they 
agreed to "cross-deputize" officers from the Fremont County Sheriff's 
Office and both Riverton and Lander police departments. It's now 
common for non-Indian officers to respond to reservation emergencies 
for preliminary assistance, Noseep said.

"It brought more manpower to the reservation," said Ivan Posey, 
chairman of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council.

Another important ally in the crackdown on meth came from U.S. 
Attorney for Wyoming Matthew Mead. "His willingness to prosecute has 
been very important," tribal Judge Richard Ferris said.

Federal law forbids tribal courts from prosecuting non-Indians for 
crimes on the reservation. That's one reason authorities believe the 
Mexican drug dealers targeted Wind River.

It also didn't help that relationships between the tribes and 
off-reservation law enforcement agencies haven't always been cordial.

Posey said an informal agreement with off-reservation law enforcement 
took a turn for the worse in about 2000. That's when a former Fremont 
County sheriff tried to strong arm his way onto the reservation to 
pursue county warrants on tribal land, Posey said.

Some tribal officials saw the move as an infringement on the tribes' 
status as sovereign nations.

"We kind of put them on hold there," said Posey, referring to the 
agency agreements.

By the time Noseep took over as chief, it clearly was time to 
reconnect with other area law enforcement, he said.

"The only way you're ever going to fight this (meth) is to set the 
differences aside," Noseep said.

"From there, it was just good, solid police work," Noseep said.

In the last 18 months, law enforcement executed the two largest drug 
busts in Wyoming history on the reservation.

The first resulted in more than 20 arrests, including a tribal judge 
who will serve five years in federal prison. More than 40 people were 
arrested in a second bust last month that netted 20 pounds of meth, 
20 guns and $100,000.

Noseep doesn't have any illusions about the bust; he said the 
crackdown will only temporarily cripple the source of meth on the reservation.

But stronger drug enforcement and aggressive action by federal 
prosecutors should prevent another large-scale meth ring from taking 
root on the reservation, he said.

"I couldn't be more pleased with the results," Noseep said.
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