Petition to Name Navajo County a “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area”
Could Bring Major New Funding for War on Drug Trafficking and Abuse
County Attorney Carlyon and Sheriff Clark spearhead efforts to
gain federal HIDTA designation
February 23, 2010
Holbrook, AZ — A coalition of almost all the federal,
state, municipal and tribal law enforcement agencies with drug enforcement jurisdiction
in Navajo County has petitioned for the county to be named a High Intensity Drug
Trafficking Area (HIDTA) by the federal Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP),
which could bring major new funding for the county-wide war on drug trafficking
and abuse.
Navajo County Attorney Brad Carlyon and Sheriff K. C. Clark spearheaded the petition.
If the petition is approved by the ONDCP, Navajo County will join the eight Arizona
counties currently in the Southwest Border HIDTA Arizona Region (Cochise, La Paz,
Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz and Yuma).
Created by the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988 and the Office of National Drug Control
Policy Reauthorization Act of 1998, the HIDTA program allows the director of ONDCP
to name as a HIDTA any county with serious drug trafficking problems that harmfully
impact other areas of the country. Being designated a HIDTA makes additional federal
resources available to the county.
Joining the County Attorney and Sheriff in the petition were nearly every federal,
state, local and tribal agency with drug enforcement jurisdiction in the county,
including the Arizona Department of Public Safety, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Navajo Nation,
Hopi and White Mountain Apache tribal police departments, and the municipal police
departments of Holbrook, Pinetop-Lakeside, Show Low, Snowflake-Taylor and Winslow.
“Being named a HIDTA is never a sure thing, but we’re extremely optimistic
our petition will be approved by the ONDCP,” County Attorney Carlyon said.
“This has been a year-long effort and a really massive amount of work by many
people.”
Carlyon said the petition went to the ONDCP with the unanimous support of the HIDTA
Arizona Region Executive Committee and with strong letters of support from Arizona
Senators John McCain and John Kyl and Arizona Representative Ann Kirkpatrick.
“The Arizona Region Executive Committee actually submitted the petition to
the ONDCP on our behalf,” Carlyon said. “They were extremely helpful
and supportive at every stage.”
Carlyon traveled to Washington to meet with McCain, Kyl, Kirkpatrick and their staffs
and said that everyone recognized the benefits of bringing Navajo County into the
HIDTA Arizona Region. “They were eager to help,” he said.
Sheriff Clark said the petition includes a $2.8 million funding proposal that would
expand the drug-fighting capabilities of all the participating agencies. Approval
would fund a new commander, sergeant and deputy for the Sheriff’s Office;
new officers for the Holbrook, Show Low, Snowflake-Taylor and Winslow municipal
police departments; new officers for the Navajo Nation, Hopi and White Mountain
Apache tribal police departments; a new DPS officer; and two new prosecutors in
the County Attorney’s office, one dedicated to the support of the county’s
multi-agency Major Crimes Apprehension Team (MCAT) and the other dedicated to the
prosecution of drug crimes. Approval would also allow the County Attorney to continue
to fund two investigator/analyst positions that are now funded by short-term Department
of Justice grants.
“We’re very proud of what MCAT and the other agencies have been able
to accomplish by working together over the years, but approval of the HIDTA petition
would truly be the dawning of a new era in our fight against drug trafficking and
abuse,” Clark said.
Carlyon said the support of the BIA and the tribal police departments could be the
key to the success of the petition. “When we first started exploring the possibility
of becoming a HIDTA, what really caught the attention of the decision-makers in
Arizona and Washington was the amount of tribal land in Navajo County,” Carlyon
said.
Carlyon said Department of Justice studies have shown that highways and secondary
roads through tribal lands near the U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico have become
increasingly attractive to drug traffickers. “The main corridors like Interstate
40 are so heavily policed that drug traffickers are looking for alternate routes,”
Carlyon said.
“With the BIA and all the tribal police departments joining our petition,
we were able to show the Arizona Region and the ONDCP that this is truly a united,
county-wide partnership to stem the tide of drug trafficking and abuse,” Carlyon
said. “More than half the land in Navajo County is tribal land, so it would
have made little sense to submit a petition without the support of the BIA and tribal
police. We’re very grateful for their support.”
Carlyon singled out Navajo County District I Supervisor Jonathan Nez as having played
a key role in garnering the support of the BIA, the tribal police and other tribal
officials. “The drug problem crosses all borders and affects all cultures,”
Nez said. “If ever a problem cried out for close cooperation in enforcing
the laws and finding solutions, this is it.”
If the petition is approved, Navajo County would be the only HIDTA county in northeastern
Arizona. Sheriff Clark said the Arizona Region Executive Committee agreed that the
inclusion of Navajo County would help plug a significant gap in enforcement.
“Navajo County is one of the main gateways to the Midwestern and Eastern drug
markets,” Clark said. “When you look at a road map, you’re immediately
struck by the number of routes available to drug traffickers through Navajo County.”
In a letter to the ONDCP that accompanied Navajo County’s petition, Arizona
HIDTA Chairman (and Yuma County Sheriff) Ralph Ogden emphasized that the county
“includes three Native American reservations, an Interstate Highway (I-40),
and many secondary roads providing access to New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. Approval
of Navajo County as a HIDTA County would also allow them to benefit from Domestic
Highway Enforcement and Native American Project discretionary funding.”
In addition to the increased manpower and equipment the HIDTA designation could
bring, Clark said that becoming a HIDTA would also allow the participating agencies
to tie into the Arizona Region’s Investigative Support Center and receive
important information on a more timely basis. “Especially in the war on drugs,
information-led policing is the key,” Clark said. “Drug traffickers
are well-organized and sophisticated. To keep up with them, you can never have too
much information. Becoming a HIDTA would greatly expand our information gathering
and sharing capabilities.”
Carlyon said that he, Sheriff Clark, Supervisor Nez and Raymond Joe, newly elected
Chairman of the Navajo Nation Public Safety Committee, will be traveling to Washington
the week of March 15th to meet with key officials at the White House, ONDCP, Homeland
Security Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs about the HIDTA petition and
other opportunities for cooperation in law enforcement. Joe, who was elected Chairman
of the Public Safety Committee at the February 8th meeting of the Navajo Nation
Council, said he is committed to forging strong partnerships between the Sheriff’s
Office, BIA and Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety in matters of mutual interest
like drug trafficking and abuse. Joining the group in Washington will be staff members
from the Arizona Congressional delegation.
According to Carlyon, the fate of the petition may not be known for several months.
“If we’re successful, you’ll hear me and Sheriff Clark shout from
Shonto to Pinetop,” he promised.