16 arrested in Navajo meth ring

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz., April 23 (UPI) -- Sixteen people arrested in Arizona Friday allegedly were part of the largest methamphetamine trafficking ring on Navajo tribal lands, authorities said.

The U.S. Justice Department said in a release the arrests were the culmination of a yearlong undercover investigation in the Navajo Nation.

"We have absolute zero-tolerance for meth sales on tribal nations, where this drug has done so much damage and is a known driver of violent crime," said U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke for the District of Arizona. "This joint investigation by the Navajo Nation Division of Public Safety, the FBI, the Bureau of Indian Affairs ... and the Flagstaff Police Department targeted what we believe to be the largest meth distribution cell in the Navajo Nation, with a supply-line stretching all the way from Tuba City to the Phoenix metropolitan area."

Hope MacDonald Lone Tree, councilwoman of the Navajo Nation, praised Navajo officers and investigators as "local heroes."

"We feel secure knowing that they are relentless in capturing individuals who wreck havoc in our communities and cause irreparable harm and injury to our children and families," she said. "The assistance and support of the Flagstaff Police Department and our federal partners has been invaluable. drug abuse has a deadly effect across our Navajo Nation."