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Interior Secretary Zinke: Tribes will define own opioid case sentencings

This comes after President Donald Trump said he was
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke speaks on the Salt River Indian Community March 19, 2018. (Photo: Pete Scholz/12 News)

United States Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke addresses the opioid crisis with members of Phoenix-area tribal community.

At an afternoon press conference Monday at the Salt River Indian Community, the secretary reiterated President Donald Trump’s plan to go after those individuals responsible for supplying illegal opioids.

Zinke said any federal opioid task force operations will work in close coordination with any and all tribal law enforcement.

When asked whether Trump's plan to consider death penalties for drug dealers would be observed on tribal lands, Zinke said penalties would administered on a case-by-case basis, and tribal courts would define their own sentencing guidelines.

Zinke was in Arizona for two days of talks with tribal members from across the region.

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