And for that reason, extreme caution must be used when making arrests.  Or so claims Utah’s U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman, discussing the recent raid in Blanding in which 24 people were arrested and indicted for dealing in Native American artifacts taken illegally from public lands, some considered sacred burial sites.

Archeological thievery for personal gain has long been the stuff of which stories are made.  Indeed, Hollywood has reaped a fortune pumping out action-adventure flicks like “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.  But this story is not the stuff of which romance and adventure tales are made.  In fact, it was more like using a hammer when a flyswatter would do.  And in the same way using a hammer can create unexpected collateral damage, Blanding’s only doctor, 60-year old James Redd, was one of the people arrested and he committed suicide the next day.

This story starts in 2006.  A plain old sting set to the tune of trafficking charges set-up costs of $335,000 paid by an informant for a plethora of artifacts — sandals, blankets, pots and axes.  It used anywhere from 96-120 agents to arrest – at gunpoint and in one case breaking bones – and transport the suspects, as well as document the artifact evidence left in the homes.

While some of the suspects have been in trouble before, including 3 with drug convictions, local authorities say none have any history of violence, though one is claimed to have made statements to the informant about killing law enforcement officers who tried to stop him.

This should give all of us pause.  Like the killing of an old woman for the $20 in her pocketbook, the sheer amount of force mounted against Dr. Redd and his wife alone, for what amounts to a little less than $14,000/suspect is senseless.  “Eighteen vehicles surrounded the Redds’ house,” San Juan County Supervisor Bruce Adams said in an interview. “Do we do that with child molesters? With murderers?” He added, “I haven’t seen a piece of pottery or an artifact that’s worth a human life.”

Interior Secretary Salazar flew to Salt Lake City to brag it was the “biggest bust ever” of thieves of this kind.