9 people from Red Lake Reservation arrested in drug case
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(AP) - Nine people from the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northwest Minnesota, including two police officers, were arrested this week on federal drug charges.
Two of those arrested were officers with the Red Lake Police Department, which assisted in their apprehension, federal officials said.
They were Herbert M. May, 37, and Robert J. Vanwert, 33. They were arrested on Wednesday. An attorney assigned to May's case on Friday declined to comment. The attorney assigned to Vanwert did not immediately return a call.
Red Lake police referred questions about the case to the Minneapolis office of the FBI. FBI spokesman Paul McCabe confirmed May and Vanwert were police officers but he had no further information.
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Federal prosecutors in South Dakota announced the indictments on Friday. That office is handling the case so the prosecutors in Minnesota can avoid any conflicts of interest.
The other seven suspects were arrested Thursday. All the arrests were made on the reservation and the surrounding area, prosecutors said in a news release.
U.S. Attorney Marty J. Jackley said a 10th suspect in the case was in prison in Minnesota and would make his first court appearance in the federal case soon.
Earlier this week, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy to posses and distribute five or more kilograms of cocaine or a mixture of cocaine and another substance.
The case was investigated by the Headwaters Safe Trails Task Force, which is a team of officers from local, state, federal and tribal law enforcement agencies.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
