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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans""><img width="624" height="147"></span><span style="font-family:"Open Sans""></span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE</span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">July 14, 2021</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><u><span style="font-size:17pt;font-family:"Open Sans"">U.S.-Mexico
border driving Idaho’s growing drug threat</span></u></b></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">Boise, Idaho –
Governor Brad Little today hosted a roundtable with law enforcement leaders at
Idaho State Police (ISP) headquarters in Boise to discuss Idaho’s growing drug
threat and the connection to the United States-Mexico border.</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">“The sustained
availability of drugs and the impact from crime related to drug abuse –
including property and violent crimes – present continuing threats to the
health and safety of Idahoans,” Governor Little said. “Meth and fentanyl are
the most serious and growing drug threats in Idaho and there is a direct tie to
the loose border with Mexico.” </span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">For example, in the
Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), law enforcement
reporting shows the supply of illicit fentanyl from Mexico in the region has
become more prevalent. More than half of officers surveyed this year reported
that investigations involving fentanyl were directly tied to sources in Mexico.</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">Law enforcement
reporting shows meth is primarily transported into Oregon and Idaho from Mexico
through California.</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">Of the Drug
Trafficking Organizations investigated last year, 23 of 24 identified Mexico as
the source country for drugs trafficked into the region.</span></p>
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The trend reinforces the Governor’s decision to send a team of five ISP
troopers to the border to assist the State of Arizona with their drug
interdiction efforts. The troopers are five of ISP’s expert criminal
interdiction team. They are in Arizona to serve both as a force multiplier for local efforts at
a time when it’s needed along the border and, importantly, to bring back to
Idaho the experience of seeing and learning up-to-the-minute enforcement
techniques. </span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">The troopers
deployed are trainers themselves and help teach hundreds of other state and
local law enforcement right here in Idaho on illegal drug trends and updated
enforcement techniques. </span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">“It is truly a
fantastic opportunity to send our best criminal interdiction troopers to learn
what’s happening and what’s working with law enforcement efforts to fight the
flow of illegal drugs, and to be a force multiplier along the border when it is
badly needed,” Governor Little said. “I want to thank these law enforcement
leaders here with me today for sharing with us what they are facing.”</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">Law enforcement
leaders who participated in today’s roundtable include ISP Colonel Kedrick
Wills, Twin Falls Chief of Police Craig Kingsbury, Bannock County Sheriff Tony
Manu, ISP Lt. Colonel Sheldon Kelley, ISP Lt. Colonel Bill Gardiner, ISP
District 1 (Coeur d’Alene) Captain John Kempf, and Fusion Center ISP Sgt. Bret
Kessinger. </span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">Additional
information about drug activity in Idaho is available in the Oregon-Idaho HIDTA
2022 Threat Assessment available at </span><a href="https://oridhidta.org/reports" style="color:rgb(5,99,193)"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">https://oridhidta.org/reports</span></a><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">.</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" align="center" style="text-align:center;margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans""># # #</span></p>
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<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
Marissa Morrison, Press Secretary</span></p>
<p class="gmail-MsoNoSpacing" style="margin:0in;font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">208-943-1686 or </span><a href="mailto:marissa.morrison@gov.idaho.gov" style="color:rgb(5,99,193)"><span style="font-family:"Open Sans"">marissa.morrison@gov.idaho.gov</span></a><span style="font-family:"Open Sans""> </span></p>
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