Gov. Brad Little says he’ll fight ‘growing drug threat’ in Idaho from Mexico border
Two new committees will study the effects of drugs on Idaho communities and advise Gov. Brad Little on how to curb their spread.
Little on Thursday announced his plan, “Operation Esto Perpetua,” in a news conference at his Idaho Capitol office. Little decried the availability of illegal drugs, their low price and unpredictable potency, and attributed their rise in Idaho to the “loose” U.S.-Mexico border.
The governor’s plan seeks to combat the “continuing threats to the health and safety of all Idahoans” presented by illegal drugs, he said.
Methamphetamine and fentanyl, a deadly synthetic opioid, “are the most serious growing drug threats in Idaho,” Little said. The Republican governor said traffickers from Mexico are the primary source of the drugs.
Little asked the Idaho Legislature for $250,000 from the state’s general fund to carry out the plan.
Little convened a citizen group that will host meetings across Idaho with local law enforcement officers and the public over the next two months to collect information on fentanyl and meth.
The committee includes House Speaker Scott Bedke, an Oakley Republican who’s running for lieutenant governor, and Sen. Abby Lee, a Fruitland Republican, as well as local government leaders and a representative of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe. Luke Malek, a former state representative who last year withdrew as a candidate for lieutenant governor and endorsed Bedke, will be the committee’s chairman.
The citizen group will report its findings to a panel of law enforcement officials, which will advise the governor on policy solutions. The panel includes representatives from the Idaho State Police, Boise Police Department, Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and governor’s office.
Last year, the Mountain West News Bureau, a public radio news collaboration that includes Boise State Public Radio, reported a rise in fentanyl deaths in the Intermountain West. Idaho State Police Col. Ked Wills, a member of the new law enforcement panel, said Thursday that fentanyl is dangerous, addictive and quickly spreading throughout the state.
“Esto perpetua,” the state’s motto, is Latin for “let it last forever.” Little teased the plan in January during his State of the State address, when he also criticized Democratic President Joe Biden for his border policies. Last year, Little sent five Idaho State Police troopers to the U.S.-Mexico border, to help “curb the flow of illegal drugs.”
Little is expected to run for re-election this year, although he has yet to announce his candidacy. The GOP primary is in two months.
“Idaho’s growing drug threat is a direct consequence of the loose border with Mexico,” Little said Thursday. “Law enforcement reporting shows the supply of illicit fentanyl from Mexico in the region has become much more prevalent.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 5:53 PM.
