FBI steps up Alaska security task force, adds agents to state

The FBI and other federal agencies have increased their presence in Alaska through a security task force, FBI Director Kash Patel told the U.S. Senate appropriations subcommittee May 14.

Patel said officials are working with Canadian partners on drug-trafficking production north of the border and trafficking routes to Alaska, the Lower 48 and tribal lands.

The announcement came during a hearing on the fiscal year 2027 budget for the Justice Department's law enforcement agencies. Sen. Lisa Murkowski questioned Patel and other agency heads about Alaska enforcement gaps. C-SPAN aired the hearing.

Drug Enforcement Administration Administrator Terrance Cole told Murkowski the DEA is watching Canada and plans to open two more offices there in fiscal year 2027. He said the agency works with the U.S. Postal Service to intercept packages bound for Alaska.

"In April we did an enforcement work at 10 kilos of fentanyl, multiple packages going into Alaska, and five kilos of methamphetamine domestically going into Alaska as well," Cole said, according to the caption transcript.

Cole said that work targets Mexican cartel activity moving through Canada.

Missing Indigenous people

Murkowski opened her questioning by citing May 5, the national day of awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous people. She said Alaska's numbers justify words such as "epidemic" and "crisis."

Murkowski said 75% of Alaska women who are missing or determined to have been murdered are Alaska Native women.

Patel said the FBI had launched what he called a first-of-its-kind operation focused on crimes on tribal lands, including Alaska. He said the FBI completed a pilot program on the Navajo reservation using Starlink communications and would bring similar capabilities to tribal lands for investigations.

Murkowski also raised Alaska's lack of a federal detention facility. She said federal inmates from Alaska are housed in state facilities or sent out of state, creating costs and transportation burdens for the U.S. Marshals Service.