Tribal courts can't prosecute non-Native drug suspects. Tribes say it's a problem

Tulalip Tribes Police arrest a suspect from another tribe on drug charges. One charge — possession of drug paraphernalia — wouldn't apply to non-Native suspects in Washington state (Martin Kaste/NPR)

As fentanyl addiction and overdose deaths ravage Native American communities, some tribal leaders want Native law enforcement to take drug enforcement more into their own hands.

"We can't wait anymore," Jamie Azure, chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in November. "We are very close to losing a generation to an opioid, to a synthetic drug."