Idaho Gov. Brad Little sends state police to US-Mexico border to target drug trafficking

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) – For the fourth time, Idaho Gov. Brad Little has sent state troopers to the U.S. border with Mexico to target drug traffickers.

The 13 officers from Idaho State Police are on a mission to “dismantle local, multistate and international drug trafficking organizations” until mid-December, according to a Monday news release. The troopers, who left Sunday, will work with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

“Law enforcement agencies are seizing record amounts of fentanyl, meth and other dangerous drugs,” Little said in the release. “In too many cases, this illegal activity can be traced right back to cartels and other bad actors taking advantage of our lawless southern border. The troopers we deploy to Texas come back with better knowledge to stop these perpetrators in our state.”

Since 2021, Little has sent state police to the border, first in Arizona and then in Texas. That 21-day trip cost more than $53,000, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The governor also visited the border in Texas with other Republican governors in 2023.

Encounters between federal agents and migrants at the border have fallen by nearly two-thirds in recent months from a high in December 2023, according to government data.