The barrier running along the U.S.-Mexico border cuts across the Tohono O'odham Nation.
As the synthetic opioid Fentanyl destroys families and neighborhoods across America, leaders of the Tohono O'odham Nation say they’re seeing positive results with their efforts to fight use of the drug on the reservation.
Earlier this month, Tohono O'odham Tribal Police seized almost $1 million worth of Fentanyl — 43,000 doses. Tribal Assistant Police Chief Rodney Irby says the smuggled drug is hard to detect.
Photo from a NATIVE HIDTA Task Force fentanyl bust in March 2019."43,000 doses sounds like a lot, but you can get it in a couple of bags."
In 2015, when Tohono O'Odham law enforcement saw the increase in Fentanyl smuggling, they moved to protect the people on the nation from the drug with an intense community awareness program. Irby says Fentanyl use on the nation is down about 30 percent compared to the rest of the country.
"I can't attribute it to any other reason, other than the fact that back in 2015 we partnered with health care here on the nation and we were pretty aggressive in a campaign against Fentanyl."
Tohono O'odham Nation leaders say now methamphetamines are becoming the bigger problem, with drug seizures on the rise. They plan to fight that drug in a similar way — by educating the community.
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