Idaho Governor Brad Little announced Monday morning that he has sent another team of Idaho State Police troopers to Texas for the state’s fourth border mission.
On Sunday, the troopers departed from Idaho and will remain in Texas until mid-December.
The ISP’s Domestic Highway Enforcement (DHE) squad assigns the 13 troopers. The DHE Team is a multi-jurisdictional narcotics task force that uses intelligence to identify, disrupt, and dismantle local, multi-state, and international drug trafficking organizations.
According to Little’s office, while in Texas, the troopers will help the Texas Department of Public Safety catch narcotics and human smugglers crossing the porous border. They will take what they learn and return to Idaho to train other ISPs and local law enforcement on the most recent strategies employed by Mexican drug cartels to transport drugs, weapons, and people into America.
“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 drugs. 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.”
“The Idaho State Police is proud to partner with the Texas Department of Public Safety in this important mission. This collaboration aligns with Governor Little’s Esto Perpetua initiative, enhancing our ability to protect Idahoans and strengthen public safety in our communities,” ISP Director Col. Bill Gardiner said. “Deploying our troopers to the southern border provides invaluable real-world experience in drug interdiction and human trafficking investigations—critical issues that affect communities across the nation, including here in Idaho. These deployments not only sharpen our troopers’ skills and introduce updated interdiction techniques but also allow them to bring that expertise back to Idaho, where they can train and equip their peers.”