FBI, ICE Nab Suspected Mexican Cartel Member Working On Wyoming Reservation

The FBI on Tuesday arrested an illegal immigrant from Mexico with probable ties to a transnational drug cartel, suspected of dealing large quantities of methamphetamine around Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation, the agency says.

Agents arrested the male Mexican national, who is in the U.S. illegally, in Fremont County on Tuesday, says a statement the FBI released Wednesday. The man is accused of distributing large quantities of meth “on and around” the Wind River Indian Reservation and has “probable ties to a known transnational drug trafficking organization,” says the statement.

He was found with about one pound of meth and multiple guns when arrested, says the statement, adding that authorities took two more people into custody, one of whom was in the country illegally.   

The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for the arrestees’ names and ages. 

ICE Keeps Two

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released a simultaneous statement Wednesday, saying it took two Mexican aliens into custody during the investigation, suspected of drug and gun smuggling.

“These aliens will remain in custody pending an immigration hearing before a judge,” says the statement by ICE’s Denver-based enforcement and removal operation.

ICE referred Cowboy State Daily to the FBI or to the U.S. Attorney's Office to learn arrestees' names and ages. The U.S. Attorney's Office said it could not release the arrestees' names until their charges are publicly filed.

The FBI Rocky Mountain Safe Trails Task Force conducted the investigation with special assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, says the FBI’s statement.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.