Montana’s tribal leaders made a desperate plea to Congress, arguing that they are outmatched and overpowered as Mexican drug cartels take advantage of legal gaps to establish a deadly foothold on Native American reservations.
The president of the Fort Belknap Indian Community, Jeffrey Stiffarm, said that the Sinaloa Cartel exploits the persistent underfunding of law enforcement on the 652,000-acre reservation that is patrolled by just nine officers to operate with near impunity in his area.
“We are fighting a losing battle. The cartels are winning, the drug dealers are winning,” Stiffarm stated to Congress. “We are left alone to fight this battle against them.”
Stiffarm, a 20-year veteran of police enforcement, stated, “They know we’re short-staffed, underfunded, under-trained, and outnumbered. They’re preying on our people, our children, our women. They get a foothold in and they’re here.”
However, the destruction goes beyond drug trafficking, as cartel members integrate themselves profoundly into indigenous villages that struggle with 70 percent joblessness and are located hours away from metropolitan areas.
According to Stiffarm, cartel-perpetrated rapes and murders have regrettably become normal.
However, the destruction goes beyond drug trafficking, as cartel members integrate themselves profoundly into indigenous villages that struggle with 70 percent joblessness and are located hours away from metropolitan areas.
According to Stiffarm, cartel-perpetrated rapes and murders have regrettably become normal.
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According to Stiffarm, the FBI, Border Patrol, and Bureau of Indian Affairs, among other federal authorities, have been unable to take action because of jurisdictional loopholes that cartel members have skillfully exploited to their advantage.
Stiffarm claims that since 1997, the Belknap law enforcement budget has barely increased from $1.2 million to $1.3 million.
Stiffarm made reference to the overseas aid measure that Congress passed on Saturday, saying, “We’re the first people of this country, and we’re always overlooked, pushed aside. They send $95 billion to kill people overseas but can’t spare pennies to save their own on reservations being ravaged by cartels.”
Stiffarm made the plea in the hopes of at last getting support for military forces he said are capturing tribal territory across the northern plains. He claimed to be afraid of cartel vengeance.
“If it’s at the risk of my own life, then so be it,” he stated. “That’s my job – to protect our people.”
