South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem warned Thursday that Mexican cartels have set up shop in her state and are "trafficking" children.
"They're not just at the border, they're here in South Dakota and they're bringing fentanyl in that's killing our kids and trafficking our children," she said on Fox News.
Last year, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's division in Omaha, Nebraska, wrapped up a year-long investigation and arrested 87 people with ties to the Sinaloa (or "Los Chapitos") cartel and Jalisco (known as "Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion") cartel who were operating in the states of North and South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota.
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“It directly affects everything we see. And they are the biggest pushers of the fentanyl that's driving overdoses and drug poisonings in the country. They are the biggest producers of methamphetamine, and they also are trafficking in heroin, cocaine. But these cartels are ruthlessly trying to expand their footprint,” said DEA Special Agent Justin King at the time.
As Newsweek points out, Noem and 24 other Republican governors recently signed a letter criticizing President Joe Biden and his handling of the migrant crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border.
"We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border," the letter read. "We do it in part because the Biden Administration is refusing to enforce immigration laws already on the books and is illegally allowing mass parole across America of migrants who entered our country illegally."
