The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel announced on September 2 that the agency had recently arrested multiple individuals and seized a quantity of drugs and weapons in an operation targeting gang violence in tribal communities.
In a post on the social media platform “Truth Social,” Patel stated that the FBI, along with state, local, tribal, and other federal partners, had collaborated on the operation named “Trusted Trails” to combat violent gangs and drug traffickers plaguing tribal communities.
The operation, which ran from May 1 to July 31, investigated 62 drug trafficking cases, resulting in the seizure of drugs such as methamphetamine and cocaine, the arrest of 86 individuals, and the confiscation of 146 weapons.
Patel wrote, “Gangs, drug trafficking organizations, and violent criminals who think they can operate with impunity on tribal lands should know that those days are over, we are coming for you. We are dismantling your criminal networks. We will continue to operate in these communities until the mission is complete.”
According to the agency, under laws such as the Major Crimes Act and the General Crimes Act, the FBI has special jurisdiction over specific crimes occurring on approximately 200 reservations across the United States.
During a congressional hearing in July 2025, Justin Garris, the head of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, revealed that local criminal enterprises connected to large drug trafficking organizations were increasingly using Native American reservations for illegal activities.
Garris pointed out that these enterprises took advantage of the remote locations and limited law enforcement resources to engage in drug smuggling and money laundering, consolidating their networks through violence and intimidation tactics.
In Montana, drug cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel from Mexico and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel have targeted Native American reservations. These cartels recruit tribal members and embed their operatives within communities to expand and coordinate drug trafficking operations.
Garris stated that transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) exploit tribal lands to exploit the “loose border controls” along the U.S.-Mexico border.
For example, the Tohono O’odham Nation reservation in southern Arizona spans over 60 miles along the border, and criminal organizations are using this area to smuggle drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States. This region has become a transit zone for shipping drugs like cocaine, heroin, and marijuana into the country.
In a statement on July 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) disclosed that in a recent joint operation involving tribal, local, state, and federal agencies called “Operation Black Book,” law enforcement dismantled a multi-state cocaine trafficking organization.
During the operation conducted in June and July, 14 members of the trafficking group were arrested, and authorities seized over 37 firearms, approximately 11 pounds of cocaine intended for distribution in South Dakota, and over $61,000 in cash.
Patel noted that the group had been operating near the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southwestern South Dakota, allegedly involved in large-scale drug distribution to Pine Ridge and surrounding Native American territories for years without intervention.
In October 2025, Democratic U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto from Nevada introduced the Tribal Warrant Fairness Act, allowing tribal law enforcement to participate in regional fugitive task forces. The bill passed in the Senate in June and is currently under consideration in the House of Representatives.