Meth making an ugly impact

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — On Sept. 23, 2003, FBI-Gallup Special Agent Nick Manns and a Navajo Nation Law Enforcement officer were on patrol near Fort Defiance Chapter House when they encountered a non-Native male a twice convicted-felon from Phoenix who had been in prison for drug distribution.

According to Manns, the individual had 2 ounces of crystal methamphetamine hidden in the VCR of his truck, which officers stopped west of the chapter house.

"When we caught him, what he told me was he did not think he could be arrested on the Navajo Nation, a) because he was non-Native, and b) because there was no statute against methamphetamine. Of course, he's in federal prison now," Manns told Navajo Nation Council delegates Friday just before they voted unanimously, 64-0, to make the possession and usage of methamphetamine and other controlled substances illegal on Navajoland.

Hope MacDonald-Lonetree, sponsor of the legislation, told delegates, "Many of you know me as the chair of the Public Safety Committee, but I am also a mother who is greatly concerned about the public safety in our communities."

"This legislation is a matter of urgency," she said. "Meth, also known as 'G', is a new monster we are facing in contemporary times here on Navajo. Meth has become such a horrendous problem here on Navajo that it is crippling our Navajo families ... It almost doubles the violent crime."

Spinoff crimes
Crimes attributable to meth use include sexual assault, homicide, burglary, armed robbery, and assault on law enforcement officers. FBI-Gallup estimates up to 40 percent of the FBI violent crime cases on Navajoland involve methamphetamine, she said.

"Meth users on Navajo have been seen as young as 9 years old. The increased use and abuse is in gangs as well. You combine impoverished communities, lack of economic opportunities, unemployment and not enough police officers, and meth becomes twice as deadly than in other metropolitan areas," she said.

Limited resources, cuts in federal funding and the impending closure of Tuba City Detention Center make dealing with the issue more difficult. MacDonald-Lonetree told delegates to expect to see a lot of the Public Safety Committee in the near future.

Agent Manns and Navajo Nation Sgt. Alvernon Tsosie, a criminal investigator from Window Rock Police District, accompanied MacDonald-Lonetree and spoke of just a few cases they had worked to help illustrate the dangers of methamphetamine.

Manns said that on Sept. 7, 2002, he worked a sexual assault case involving a juvenile victim who used meth. Both of her attackers also used the drug. One of them is now in federal prison, he said.

"The interesting thing about this case is that after being sexually assaulted, she is taken to Fort Defiance Indian Hospital. While she was there, after the nurse left the room, she stole 200 syringes out of one of the drawers and took them to her home," Manns said.

"When I asked her about these when I found them, she said she was going to take those to Window Rock High School so that her friends and her could 'shoot,' or inject, this particular drug, methamphetamine," Manns said.

On Sept. 23, 2002, in Kinlichee, a juvenile male who huffed paint, had behavioral problems, and also was an occasional user of methamphetamine, took a .22-caliber rifle and attempted to sexually assault a teen-ager, Manns said.

"She had a young child with her. When the teenager kicked him and ran out of the house they were in, he assaulted the young child. He then took the rifle, went next door where the teenager ran, fired into the house, hit an adult," he said.

"He stole a truck, went to Fluted Rock where he confronted an elderly female at a sheep camp. He shot and killed her. He stole another pickup, he went to Farmington, N.M., where he stabbed an individual. He then came back to Kinlichee, where we found his truck," Manns continued.

"We had a manhunt, we located him in his house, inside a closet with a gun in his mouth. With great work by the Navajo Police Department we were able to take him into custody without him killing himself," Manns said.

Violent standoff
On March 8, 2003, Navajo Police officers were called into service at the Conoco in Tse Bonito. The suspect, armed with an AR-15 assault rifle, fired multiple rounds at Navajo Police officers before stopping in St. Michaels and pointing a gun at officers as well as himself. A Navajo Police officer was forced to fire on the suspect, striking him with two rounds. He survived and now is in federal prison.

"He will deny being a meth user, but numerous witnesses I have talked to, as well as police reports, show that he was under the influence of meth at the time," Manns said.

A case arising from an Aug. 12, 2003, Chinle incident goes to trial this week in federal court. "Part of the effects of meth are people hallucinate. This individual in Canyon de Chelly housing saw two people outside his house that were walking in the neighborhood. He believed they were some type of threat to him and he shot both of them. They both survived," Manns said.

Sgt. Tsosie then told of a Nov. 3, 2003, case involving a female patrol officer who responded to a domestic dispute in progress at Rio Puerco housing in Fort Defiance. The officer located the subject, who fled the scene, and a foot chase ensued, he said.

"They went between fences and housing areas and she managed to stay up with the subject. When she did finally make contact with the subject in the middle of the housing area, she cornered the subject between two houses and a chainlink fence. The fight continued there, and as a result of the fight, she received an injury to the forearm that fractured her arm," Tsosie said.

"Prior to the injury to her arm, she made attempts to subdue the subject by using a police baton and pepper spray, which showed no effect," he said.

The subject then lunged at her, placed his hands around her throat, and began choking her. "She thought her life was in jeopardy at that point and she had no choice but to defend herself. She pulled her service weapon and shot the subject," he said.

Sgt. Tsosie, the second officer to arrive on the scene immediately after the shooting, said it was determined that the subject, who later died, was under the influence of crystal meth.

Irrational judgment
Manns then told delegates about a 2003 Christmas-to-remember. He was working on an incident along with Navajo Police when the officer he was with was pulled out on another call, leaving Manns "alone in Pinon on Christmas about 3 in the morning." During the course of the investigation, Manns was charged with returning a juvenile witness home to his mother.

"When I knocked on the hogan door and the mother opened it, there were three people in there smoking methamphetamine. Of course, I have a black vest that says 'POLICE' across it, and I'm a white guy in Pinon on Christmas," Manns expalined.

"The individual's first thought was to grab a knife and that's what he did. And that's what this illustrates: Under the influence of methamphetamine, people don't think rationally. Even when confronted by a police officer with a drawn weapon a firearm he still drew a knife." However, after negotiation, he decided to put it down, Manns said.

The stories continued. Twelve people, all meth users, arrested Dec. 27, 2003, in Window Rock after stealing 50 firearms from Navajo Fish & Wildlife. They also were responsible for a string of burglaries at the Navajo Times, Navajo Environmental Protection Agency, Navajo Education Center, schools in Lukachukai and Tsaile, as well as numerous houses.

"It costs about $100 a day to use this drug," Manns said. "No one makes that kind of money; so they're burglarizing houses and businesses and even Fish & Wildlife right here in Window Rock, and stealing items to pawn and subsequently using the money to buy methamphetamine."

As he began to speak of a June 3, 2004, Blue Gap meth-related case in which three people were shot, with one killed, a power failure sent the council chambers into sudden darkness. Delegates opted to go straight to a vote on the legislation, rather than adjourn.

Delegates called out their votes while playing laser-light tag against the backdrop of a blackened ceiling. With shades pulled to draw available light and pocket flashlights beamed toward the tally, the unanimous vote was delivered. As delegates turned to legislation to ban future uranium mining on Navajo, light once again filled the chambers.