One person has been “targeted” and detained in Jackson by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of a large drug operation, according to Teton County Sheriff Matt Carr.
That person’s name or charges were not available by press time Tuesday. An unnamed ICE representative responded in an email on Wednesday that “ICE defers to the DEA on this matter.”
The arrest was the only one that Carr knew of in the Wyoming county following what he said was the “tail end of a very large drug operation.” He said it was connected to other reports of the federal agency’s presence in Teton Valley, Idaho and Teton County, Wyoming on Tuesday.
This marks the first known on-the-ground ICE activity of the year in Teton County, almost exactly one year after ICE was last reported in the field in another multi-day operation. ICE agents come several times a week to pick up some immigrant detainees in the Teton County jail at a clip of about two to three a week.
Carr said that by Tuesday afternoon, the operation had ended and the agencies had left Jackson.
This week also marks the first time Wyoming Immigrant Advocacy Project’s new watchdog program has confirmed the presence of ICE since launching the Teton Area Rapid Response Network in March. Earlier this week, the group posted to social media saying it did not believe ICE was involved in the regional drug bust involving the Jackson Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration. On Wednesday, the group said it had confirmed ICE was involved.
DEA spokesperson Steffan Tubbs confirmed his agency was involved in the multi-county, multi-state narcotics operation early in the week of July 21.
“Federal, state, and local partners from several agencies served multiple search warrants related to an ongoing narcotics investigation,” he said in an email. More information about the operation was not immediately available.
Charge Cesar Avila, Wyoming Assistant Special Agent for the DEA, said in an emailed statement that “the DEA and its partners are committed to seek out those who are distributing these harmful drugs no matter where they’re located.”
“Unfortunately, smaller communities are not immune from drug activity,” he said.
This story has been updated online to include an emailed response from ICE. –Ed.
