N.D. Tribal Chairman Sounds Alarm About Drug Epidemic While in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KVRR) — The chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa is sounding the alarm about the drug epidemic on reservations in North Dakota.

Jamie Azure was a guest at a hearing of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.

Sen. John Hoeven introduced him as part of a discussion on efforts to stem the flow of fentanyl and other illegal drugs into the U.S. and tribal communities.

Azure talked about the rise in overdose deaths and the creation of a unit on the reservation to put a stop to drug trafficking.

“The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa authorized it’s own tribal division of drug enforcement, DDE, with tribal resources. We hired some experienced staff and became effective as in March 2023. As of today we have four staff on this team,” Azure told the committee.

He says before setting up it’s up enforcement division, they had to rely on just one BIA drug agent among five North Dakota reservations.

Since March of 2023, they have had four major fentanyl busts.