COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho — From 2020 to 2022, fentanyl overdoses in Idaho doubled, according to the Idaho Department of Welfare and Health. The proliferation and lethality of the drug cause headaches for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“At the U.S. Attorney’s Office, we’re focused on whatever we need to do to keep the community safe,” Josh Hurwit, U.S. Attorney for the Idaho District, said. “In North Idaho, we’ve seen a lot of fentanyl.”
In an hour-long conversation Thursday afternoon, Hurwit said the . Highways, including the I-90 corridor running through the panhandle, are natural channels smugglers take to spread the drug.
“We’re really upfront in working with our state, local and federal partners to not only prosecute cases but develop programs to both raise awareness and do more large-scale investigations,” Hurwit said.
According to Hurwit, the U.S. Attorney’s office only takes on about 300 cases a year, and for the most part, they’re not prosecuting users of illicit drugs like fentanyl. Instead, they’re trying to take on fentanyl from the top down, training rural law enforcement officers to help them gather evidence against the dealers.
“With the Idaho State Police, we’ve developed training programs across the state,” Hurwit said. “(We) teach local law enforcement to treat an overdose scene as a crime scene, which it is, to prosecute the dealers which are causing this harm to the community.”
Another focus of the office is violent hate crime and violent extremism. The office has set up ‘United Against Hate’ programs throughout the state to connect law enforcement to marginalized communities in an attempt to create more trust.
“If there’s (an) act of violence or a hate crime aim at someone, (we want them to) feel comfortable and we want them to report it so that we can seek justice,” Hurwit said.
, an 18-year-old who allegedly planned to .
“Groups like ISIS or groups like domestic terrorist are using the dark web, are using encrypted apps (and) are using social media to try to recruit people or try to radicalize them to commit violence on behalf of whatever the ideology might be.”
At the end of the day, Hurwit said him and his team do the work they do not because they want to impose the will of the federal government, but because they do important work to protect Idaho.
“We’re not a nameless, faceless entity,” Hurwit said. “We’re comprised of really dedicated public servants who are raising their kids in the same schools as everybody else, who’s parents live in the same communities as everybody else, who really care about keeping this place safe.”
