HETTINGER, ND ( KXNET ) — You may have noticed some additional law enforcement in the Hettinger area.

That’s because last week, the Hettinger County Law Enforcement were performing drug stops. They took place at the same time in Adams and Slope counties as well.

During the operation, there were 28 traffic stops and of those stops, there were two arrests made.

The agencies collectively seized around 70 suspected fentanyl pills, 62 suspected grams of cocaine, 17 grams of suspected fentanyl, a gram of suspected meth, and drug paraphernalia.

This is thanks to the help of their K-9, Lyon. Sergeant Kennedy Pippenger with the Hettinger County Sheriff’s office said that operations like this help fight against drug trafficking.

She said that although you may be living in a small community, big crimes like this still happen.

“It’s right here at our back door. It comes through these small counties to get to the bigger hubs in the state. So, if anything, it’s happening in these small counties one hundred percent. The lack of law enforcement that these smaller counties have. With the more area that these smaller counties have, these are where these people come to set up shop essentially,” said Sergeant Pippenger.

Sheriff Sarah Warner said that this problem starts at the borders, and our Canadian border needs to be secured just as much as our southern border. She also said that drug trafficking can bring in violent or serious criminals right here to North Dakota.

“Drugs and other crimes go hand in hand and so yeah it’s not just the drugs coming in, but we’ve seen more thefts of property and there’s stuff coming over the northern border just like it is the southern border. We’ve seen an uptick in that,” said Sheriff Warner.

The Hettinger County Sheriff’s Office said that they do plan to continue drug stops like this in the future.

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