North Idaho names first special U.S. attorney to target drug trafficking

A new federal prosecutor in Coeur d’Alene will take on North Idaho drug-trafficking cases along Interstate 90 and U.S. 95, giving local and federal law enforcement a dedicated courtroom path for cases officials say have been straining county resources. Julia Zimny was named the first Special Assistant United States Attorney for North Idaho, and U.S. Attorney Bart Davis swore her into office at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Coeur d’Alene.

The appointment was announced by Davis and Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Allen as part of a North Idaho structure built to focus on trafficking and related crimes. Allen said the arrangement can move major cases into federal court instead of leaving counties to shoulder all the prosecution, jail, and incarceration costs, a significant shift for Kootenai County communities such as Coeur d’Alene and Post Falls, where highway traffic and steady growth keep the corridor busy.

The new office is tied to a wider local-federal coalition that includes communities and governments across North Idaho, not just Shoshone County. Funding comes from local governments, the State of Idaho through Operation Esto Perpetua, and a federal Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area grant. The High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program was created by Congress in 1988 and is administered by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, placing Kootenai County inside a federally recognized drug-trafficking region.

Officials have long treated I-90 and U.S. 95 as major routes for narcotics moving through the Inland Northwest, and the new prosecutor is meant to target the people operating higher up the chain. In 2024, the North Idaho SAUSA office was described as centered on the I-90 corridor through Shoshone and Kootenai counties and on U.S. 95. Later, in 2025, the strategy was tied to reducing fentanyl harm by pushing more cases into federal court.

Governor Brad Little’s Operation Esto Perpetua says Idaho created the initiative in response to growing drug and human trafficking threats, with rising meth and fentanyl seizures helping drive the strategy. For Kootenai County residents, the practical test will be whether the new role disrupts trafficking networks before they reach neighborhoods in Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls, and other North Idaho communities, while shifting the heaviest cases to a court system with more tools and fewer local costs.