Record-breaking drug bust on I-15 on the Moapa River Indian Reservation

A total of $11.7 million in narcotics was intercepted and confiscated on the Moapa River Indian reservation earlier this month due to a multi-agency operation. The operation included the largest illegal marijuana seizure in Nevada State Police History.

Between May 6 and 12, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Drug Enforcement, the Moapa River Indian Reservation Police Department, Nevada State Police, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Henderson Police Department, and other federal agencies conducted a criminal interdiction operation within the Moapa River Indian Reservation that resulted in the seizure of millions of dollars’ worth of illegal narcotics.

“Federal, Tribal, state, and local law enforcement agencies collaborated to form this criminal interdiction team,” said Acting Moapa Tribal Police Chief Jeff Harper. “This operation helped us identify drug, human, and sex trafficking activities that occur daily along Interstate 15 through the Moapa River Indian Reservation.”

Law enforcement officers from the interdisciplinary mobile enforcement team seized over 2,100 pounds of narcotics, worth an estimated street value of $11.7 million. During the seven-day operation, 219 traffic stops occurred with 57 vehicle searches that produced the following significant seizures:

• Marijuana – 949,732 grams (2,093.8 lbs), street value: $8.1 million
• Fentanyl – 16,406 grams (36.16 lbs), street value: $2.3 million
• Cocaine – 13,080 grams (28.83 lbs), street value: $1.2 million
• Heroin – 25.13 grams (.05 lbs), street value: $ 3,670.00
• Methamphetamine – 21.15 grams (.04 lbs), street value: $ 2,136.00
• Handguns – 3

On May 9, while conducting interdiction duties on I-15 within the reservation’s boundaries, a Nevada State Police trooper and a BIA drug enforcement K-9 officer conducted a search of a rental truck. During the search, the K-9 detected a positive hit, which allowed law enforcement officers to discover 72 large bags of marijuana. Two suspects, Tahmir Ishon Debman and Hariz Iasir Purvis, were arrested and charged with trafficking marijuana, a felony. Both were booked into the Clark County Detention Center.

“The Nevada State Police takes great pride in having multi-agency partnerships working together to keep illegal substances off our roadways and out of our communities,” said Nevada State Police Colonel Pat Conmay. “This partnership resulted in the largest illegal marijuana seizure by the Nevada State Police, along with the arrest of the suspects involved. We are committed to the unified mission to keep Nevada safe.”

“While the Moapa River Indian Reservation does not have a high rate of drug use, it is an ideal location for law enforcement agencies to work together to maximize the amount of product taken from the streets,” said BIA Office of Justice Services Acting Deputy Bureau Director Steven Juneau. “This operation was a tremendous success and will make this and other Tribal communities across the Nation safer places to live.”