The Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said Tuesday that a six-month operation in Indian country produced 118 arrests amid a caseload the department puts at more than 4,000 open investigations.
Operation Not Forgotten ran from April 1 through Sept. 30, 2026. The agencies said 41 people faced federal charges and investigators recovered 72 weapons. They also identified or located 25 child victims.
The Justice Department cited deaths, child abuse, domestic violence and adult sexual abuse among the open cases in Indian country. It gave no date for the caseload figure. The FBI gives priority to cases involving women and children, including missing-person and murder investigations. The department described victims, families and tribal communities as the intended beneficiaries of the added investigative support.
Started in 2023, Operation Not Forgotten brings investigative, intelligence and victim-service personnel to unresolved cases. This year, the FBI deployed personnel through 12 field offices. The personnel coordinated with U.S. attorneys’ offices, tribal law enforcement and the Missing and Murdered Unit of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The department said the operation supported 548 case investigations, 59% more than in 2025. FBI personnel conducted 990 interviews and 232 search operations. Compared with the previous year’s operation, arrests rose 123% and the number of people charged federally increased 52%, the department said.
The announcement separately gave results for Operation Steadfast Promise, a broader effort launched in April. The department reported more than 1,200 new investigations, charges against 678 subjects and more than 700 arrests under that program, along with 2,260 weapons recovered and 140 drug seizures. Those are wider-program figures, not additional Operation Not Forgotten results.
An Associated Press report in May quoted Navajo Nation public safety director Michael Henderson saying a larger FBI presence had both advantages and drawbacks. Henderson said federal money would be better spent staffing and funding tribal police departments.
