WASHINGTON, USA — On Friday, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington announced a federal jury indicted a man for trafficking fentanyl and meth at Northern Quest Casino. During his arrest, tribal police found 12 grams of cocaine, 136 "skittles" believed to contain fentanyl and $18,000.
The indictment comes just days after U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington Vanessa Waldref testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. She spoke in front of several federal officials, including Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, about the fentanyl crisis and how federal officials can address the drug crisis in Native communities.
RELATED: U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington testifies about fentanyl crisis in Native American communities
The attorney's testimony also emphasized partnerships between tribes, federal, state and local officials to tackle drug issues.
Waldref spoke about efforts being made in Eastern Washington to help with the fentanyl crisis, including drug prevention and education programs.
"What we needed to do to be able to prosecute these drug dealers effectively is really to work in coordination with our local, state and tribal partners to share information so that we can most effectively go after the largest tracker for traffickers of drugs in our communities, and really ensure that we can go and cut the snake's head off and making sure that these dangerous drugs don't get into our communities," Waldref told KREM 2 News.
Waldref went on to say she's proud of the work her office and federal partners are doing to prosecute and remove dangerous drugs so far. She believes each seizure of drugs and case prosecuted is saving lives.
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