State police troopers return from mission to the U.S.-Mexico border

BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) – Governor Brad Little announced Wednesday the return of two teams of Idaho State Police (ISP) troopers deployed in April to support the State of Texas’s efforts to secure the U.S.-Mexico border.

Governor Little announced the three-week mission during his State of the State and Budget Address in January with a focus on human trafficking.

“In Idaho and across the country, reports of human trafficking are on the rise. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are seizing record amounts of fentanyl, meth, and other dangerous. In too many cases, this illegal activity can be traced right back to cartels and other bad actors taking advantage of our lawless southern border,” Governor Little said. “The troopers we deploy to Texas come back with better knowledge to stop these perpetrators in our state. As they have done before, our troopers will debrief and train their law enforcement colleges around the state so we can protect Idahoans from these deadly, dangerous threats.”

Under the guidance of Governor Little’s IDAHO WORKS plan, ISP troopers were able to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and partnering states in innovative new ways to combat crime at the southern border.

“We are very proud of what we are doing and stand solely behind the Governor. What we observed down there was absolutely eye-opening,” ISP Sgt. Christopher Cottrell said about his experience during the deployment to Texas. “It is a very scary world, and Idaho is largely protected, but the more we discover, the more we realize that some of this stuff is in plain sight, and we didn’t know it at all.”