Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 9.24.14

10 | SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM
BEACON FILE PHOTO
Facts
FIGURES
Numbers in the news
2038
The year in which Alberta is projected to surpass British Columbia in population, according to Statistics Canada.
1
Montana’s ranking on a survey conducted by personal-finance website WalletHub that measures which state has the fairest tax system. Washington state was rated to have the least fair tax structure in the country.
-3.9%
Decrease in fall enrollment at the University of Montana compared to
last year.
1%
Increase in fall enrollment at Montana State University com- pared to last year.
As Drug Activity Picks Up Along Borders, Law Enforcement Bands Together Resources
Police departments teaming up with border patrol agents to increase presence along highway corridors
By DILLON TABISH of the Beacon
In early spring, local law enforcement officers partnered with U.S. Border Patrol agents during a six-week period, utilizing specific resources such as drug-sniffing dogs for any suspicious activities in the Flathead Valley. The operation resulted in 18 cases involving drugs, including 10 felo- ny cases, and 31 people were arrested. Sev- eral other incidents, including burglary and theft, were solved as well, according to local officials.
Illegal drug activity is a constant, age- old problem for law enforcement. But the frequency has picked up in recent years, particularly related to the booming Bak- ken oil patch along the east side of Montana
and in North Dakota. The FBI has warned that criminal activity has spiked in the re- gion, where more than 20,000 people have converged since oil production skyrock- eted in 2008. Drug cartels and organized crime rings have turned their attention to the area and methamphetamine and ille- gal painkillers, among the wide variety of drugs, have poured in.
Even on this side of the state, law en- forcement officers have seen an uptick in criminal activity, likely related to drugs being funneled east. U.S. Highway 93 and Highway 2 have been identified as ma- jor arterials with significant impact on border safety and criminal-related activ- ity, according to Roger Nasset, Kalispell’s chief of police.
Hoping to better combat drug traffick- ing and other crimes, the valley’s police departments and wildlife officers are en- hancing their cooperative efforts and in- creasing patrols along the primary traffic corridors through Northwest Montana. The City of Kalispell last week accepted nearly $200,000 in federal grant funding
from the Department of Homeland Securi- ty as part of Operation Stonegarden, a pro- gram designed to help local law enforce- ment agencies jointly secure U.S. borders.
The funding will be distributed to the Kalispell, Columbia Falls and Whitefish police departments, Montana Highway Pa- trol and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. It will pay officers to work extra shifts and allow local law enforcement to pair up with border patrol agents, who have drug- specific resources. The cities have been in- volved with Operation Stonegarden since its inception in 2009, and the latest grant acceptance will extend for two years.
“We feel it’s a very beneficial pro- gram,” said Wade Rademacher, admin- istrative captain for the Kalispell Police Department. “A lot of stuff is being trans- ported down Highway 93 or across High- way 2, whether it’s bringing drugs across the border from Canada or drugs being transported from the Washington area coming in from Highway 2. Those are our areas of focus.”
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