Federal agents stormed the Minnesota State Capitol complex before dawn, executing search warrants on the suite of the state’s Somali‑born governor and hauling out boxes of files and electronics in a stunning escalation of a long‑running narcotics probe. By midday, officials confirmed that twenty‑eight people had been arrested, including senior aides, political fundraisers and several state‑contracted business owners.

According to investigators, sealed indictments describe a three hundred million dollar cartel pipeline that allegedly ran straight through state government, using social‑service grants, housing contracts and nonprofit partnerships as camouflage. Logistics firms tied to key donors are accused of hiding fentanyl and meth inside routine shipments of food aid and construction materials, then laundering profits through community centers, mosques and shell consulting companies.

So far, the governor has not been charged and insists he is “shocked and outraged,” pledging full cooperation while blaming “rogue insiders” for any wrongdoing. But the presence of his former chief of staff, a longtime confidant, among those in handcuffs is already fueling speculation about how such a scheme could flourish without someone at the very top looking the other way.

Community leaders are walking a tightrope, condemning any involvement in cartel money while warning that images of federal agents raiding a Somali governor’s office will supercharge xenophobia and smear thousands of law‑abiding Somali Minnesotans. As Washington hails a landmark blow against cartel corruption, Minnesota is left to ask whether this is a necessary cleansing of its political culture — or the opening salvo in a new, deeply polarizing battle over who is trusted to govern at all.