AZ: Bootlegging on the Rise
By John Christian Hopkins
August 16, 2018
The Navajo communities near Sanders, Ariz., seem to be experiencing an increase in bootlegging activities lately.
That’s what Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control detective Herb Carruthers told the Navajo Nation Council’s Law and Order Committee this week.
Carruthers said reports of non-medical transport vehicles bringing alcohol into the Navajo Nation are rising.
The Navajo communities of Houck and Nahata Dziil are located near Sanders, which is approximately 46-miles southwest of Window Rock.
“A few years ago, the Navajo communities surrounding Sanders took the initiative to close the nearby bars and liquor stores,” LOC Vice Chairman Raymond Smith, Jr., said. “However, we face new challenges of others importing alcohol into the communities.”
After the local liquor stores were closed, there was been an increase in bootlegging in the area, Carruthers said. He said there was reports of non-medical transports bringing alcohol onto the reservation.
Houck and Sanders are right off of Interstate 40.
Community members have asked Navajo police to help prevent this, Smith said.
Delegate Otto Tso appreciated Carruthers taking the time to give his report to the LOC.
“It’s very rare that we receive reports from outside entities regarding alcohol,” Tso said. “We appreciate the report and the willingness of the department to develop a partnership with the Nation to address liquor control.”
Though Arizona Department of Liquor Licenses and Control officers have observed suspicious non-medical transport vehicles entering the reservation his office lacks jurisdiction to pursue them on the reservation, Carruthers said.
Smith suggested that the tribe and state work out a memorandum of agreement to allow state liquor enforcement officers to pursue bootleggers on the reservation.