Bootlegging bust
Liquor establishments cited for selling large quantities of alcohol to officers

By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau

FORT DEFIANCE — The Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control on Friday announced its first bootlegging bust following an 18-month joint investigation with Navajo Nation, FBI, Arizona Department of Public Safety, and several city and county law enforcement agencies.

Three northern Arizona liquor licensees were cited in the investigation, including Hank's Trading Post located 26 miles north of Flagstaff, owned by Joe Freeman; Wauneta's Trading Post, located 32 miles north of Flagstaff and owned by Mickey Irizarry; and Hatch's Quick Stop, 2310 Navajo Boulevard, Holbrook, owned by Tim Hatch.

Undercover law enforcement officers purchased large amounts of alcohol from each liquor store on several occasions, each time stating during the course of the purchase that the alcohol was going to be resold on reservation land.

Each of the business owners faces sanctions and penalties ranging from fines to having their liquor licenses revoked.

Hope MacDonald LoneTree, chairperson of the Public Safety Committee, praised the agencies involved in the multi-jurisdictional investigation. In addition to Navajo Nation, FBI and Arizona DPS Coconino County Sheriff's Office, Flagstaff Police Department, Navajo County Sheriff's Office, Winslow Police Department, Holbrook Police Department, and Apache County Sheriff's Office also assisted in the investigation.

"Our Navajo Department of Law Enforcement and Criminal Investigations has been working closely with the state's special investigator, as well as regional law enforcement agencies and grassroots community organizations in addressing alcohol-related issues such as bootlegging," MacDonald LoneTree said.

The director of the Arizona Department of Liquor License and Control, Leesa Berens-Morrison, is seeking legislation to amend state liquor laws by establishing a state law regulating alcohol sales purchased off-reservation and subsequently sold, consumed, possessed or transported onto Indian reservations.

To date, the department has had few options when it came to penalizing off-sale liquor locations that knowingly sell large quantities of alcohol to people who are transporting the alcohol back to the reservation for resale. Violations would constitute a Class 6 felony.

In a memorandum to delegates of the 20th Navajo Nation Council, MacDonald-LoneTree asked for their "enthusiastic support" of the proposed amendments. The Public Safety Committee in 2003 established a subcommittee to review matters of bordertown liquor establishments and alcohol-related incidences.

On behalf of the Public Safety Committee, MacDonald-LoneTree commended the Navajo Department of Law Enforcement, Criminal Investigations, grassroots groups and regional law-enforcement agencies "for their steadfast efforts to address alcoholism and its related crimes on the Navajo Nation."

She also expressed gratitude to Berens-Morrison for her concern and willingness to bring everyone together to combat alcohol problems on Navajoland and to seek to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with long-range issues.