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in the Bakken.
• "This is the first of many groups and individuals that are going to be indicted," he said.
• State and federal officials said the investigation was a cooperative effort involving the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, and local law enforcement in Richland County and the city of Sidney, which are in the heart of the Bakken oil patch.
• "This is a model example of how to tackle crime in the Bakken," said Anastasia Burton, a spokeswoman for Montana Attorney General Tim Fox. "We're proud the (Division of Criminal Investigation) team played an integral role in helping make Montana safer."
• The indictments did not reveal the total quantity of drugs involved in the Montana case. But at least six of the defendants were charged with possessing 50 grams or more of pure meth and 500 grams or more of a substance containing some amount of meth.
• Federal and state law enforcement have sought to ramp up their presence in the Bakken in recent years. That includes bringing in more officers and agents to deal with a spike in crime that's been seen as thousands of workers pour into once-quiet communities affected by the boom.
• Last year, after Sidney High School teacher Sherry Arnold was abducted from a city street and killed, Cotter's office convened a retreat for police, sheriffs, federal agents and other law enforcement to craft a strategy to deal with rising crime.
• Cotter said Wednesday that cooperation between law enforcement agencies was helping to target and disrupt drug trafficking organizations that would seek to capitalize on the boom.
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Nearly 9,000 western SD residents without power
• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Nearly 9,000 customers still have no power after last weekend's blizzard downed power lines and damaged equipment in western South Dakota.
• Black Hills Power says about 4,500 of its customers remain without electricity. The company has restored power to more than 23,000 since the storm.
• Mike Theis (TYS) of Black Hills Power says some of the company's customers in hard-to-reach areas will not have their service restored until sometime next week.
• The South Dakota Rural Electric Association says latest reports indicate that rural electric cooperatives in western South Dakota still have about 4,200 customers (Continued on page 29)
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