New Mexico governor declares state of emergency in rural county afflicted by crime, drug use

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — The governor of New Mexico declared a state of emergency Wednesday in response to violent crime and drug trafficking across a swath of northern New Mexico, including two Native American pueblo communities.

The emergency declaration by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham makes $750,000 available as local governments and tribal officials in Rio Arriba County call for reinforcements against violent crime as well as other crime and hardships associated with illicit drugs.

The vast county stretches from the city of Española, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Santa Fe, to the Colorado state line and has long been afflicted by opioid use and high drug-overdose death rates, with homeless encampments emerging in recent years in more populated areas.

“The surge in criminal activity has contributed to increased homelessness, family instability and fatal drug overdoses, placing extraordinary strain on local governments and police departments that have requested immediate state assistance," said Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, in a statement.

In April, Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency in New Mexico’s largest city, Albuquerque, saying that a significant increase in crime warranted the help of the New Mexico National Guard. Earlier, in 2023, she suspended the right to carry guns at public parks and playgrounds in Albuquerque in response to a series of shootings around the state that left children dead..

There were no immediate calls for troop deployments in Rio Arriba County, though the new emergency declaration allows for authorities to call up the National Guard. Emergency funds will help local law enforcement agencies spend on overtime, equipment and coordinated police responses, said Lujan Grisham spokesperson Jodi McGinnis Porter.

The tribal governor of Santa Clara Pueblo on the edge of Española urged the state to address a growing public safety crisis stemming from the use and abuse of fentanyl and alcohol in the community at large.

“The pueblo has expended thousands of dollars trying to address this crisis ... and to protect pueblo children who are directly and negatively affected by a parent's or guardian's addiction,” said Santa Clara Gov. James Naranjo in a July letter to Lujan Grisham. “But we are not an isolated community and the causes and effects of fentanyl/alcohol abuse, increased crime, and increased homelessness extend to the wider community.”

Recent deaths in the region linked by medical investigators to fentanyl and alcohol use include Rio Arriba County Sheriff Billy Merrifield.

In 2020, President Donald Trump sent federal agents, including Homeland Security officers, to Albuquerque as part of an effort to contain violent crime.

Separately on Wednesday, the Albuquerque Police Department announced murder charges against three teenagers — including two juveniles — in the July 2 shooting death of a homeless man in Albuquerque who was chased from a bus stop in the predawn hours. A 15-year-old boy is accused of being the shooter in the killing of 45-year-old Frank Howard, police department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said.