Menominee County officials are defending their role in a drug raid that has created a dispute between the federal government and the Menominee Indian Tribe.
County officials say that tribal leaders have questioned why the county sheriff’s department and highway department assisted in the Oct. 23 federal raid on the Menominee reservation north of Shawano.
Federal drug agents contend that they uncovered a large marijuana farm on tribal land, while the tribe insists the crop was legal industrial hemp.
No criminal charges have been filed, and the tribe last week filed suit in federal court challenging the legality of the operation led by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Shelley Williams, spokeswoman for the Menominee County Sheriff’s Department, said tribal leaders have questioned why sheriff’s deputies and others in county government participated in the drug raid and did not reach out to the tribe in any manner.
“The county’s been in a tough position,” Williams said. “The county wants to maintain a good relationship with the tribe.”
Officials said that Tribal Chairman Gary Besaw raised questions last week during a County Board meeting that Besaw attended with fellow tribal leaders Craig Corn and Lisa Waukau.
Besaw and other tribal officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
After a closed-door meeting Monday to discuss the matter, board members issued a statement Tuesday outlining the county’s role in the drug raid and attempting to defuse any conflict with the tribe.
The statement asserted that county officials had “no intention whatsoever to harm or hinder the tribe” and that officials hope relations with the Native American tribe will “only continue to grow stronger.” The statement noted “financial and technical contributions” that the tribe has made in the past to various civic endeavors.
“Sensible leadership on both sides has long realized that our common population base has too great a need for us not to work together,” the statement continued.
The Menominee reservation covers the entirety of Menominee County, although the tribe and county operate separate governments.
Federal drug agents armed with a search warrant raided the reservation on the morning of Oct. 23 and seized a crop found growing on tribal land along County Road M. A posted sign declared the agricultural site a legal industrial hemp operation being conducted by the tribe.
The DEA, however, said it confiscated 30,000 marijuana plants weighing several thousand pounds.
Investigators have since declined to comment except to say that the investigation was continuing.
Tribal officials maintain that they were experimenting with industrial hemp — and had informed the federal government — as a potential new cash crop used in paper, textiles and detergents. The federal suit filed last week seeks to establish the tribe’s right to grow hemp and also asserts that Wisconsin state law controlling the cannabis plant, a broader term that includes marijuana, does not apply to the tribe.
According to the county’s statement, local officials were unaware of the Oct. 23 operation’s details until that morning, including that the tribe was the target. Sheriff’s deputies provided security at the site of the raid, while highway personnel helped to load and transport the seized plants.
The statement indicated that the federal government would reimburse the county all costs, that the operation involved “no tribal funds or equipment,” and that the raid would have gone ahead anyway even if the county had elected not to participate.
Menominee County Sheriff Robert Summers could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Williams said tribal leaders questioned why county officials did not refuse to get involved in the drug raid and why officials did not “consult” with the tribe. She characterized their query as: “Why didn’t you call us? Why didn’t you say no?”
The sheriff, Williams added, would never tip off the target of an upcoming search warrant and would never refuse a request for assistance from another law enforcement agency.
“It would’ve opened him up to legal issues,” she said.
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