"Gov. Spitzer is getting into bed with the St. Regis Mohawks, giving the green light to a partnership between the upstate Indian tribe and a private firm to build a $600 million casino at the former Monticello Raceway in the economically troubled Catskills.

Bad move.

Over the past eight years, the feds have cited the St. Regis Mohawks in connection with a $687 million smuggling operation involving illegal liquor, cigarettes and guns.

They've also done a brisk business smuggling people - transporting more than 3,600 illegal aliens from China into America through the St. Regis reservation, which transverses the U.S.-Canadian border along the St. Lawrence River.

They've also occasionally engaged in shoot-outs with the New York State Police, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian army.

Not exactly good neighbors, we'd say."

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Editorial: THE GOV'S GAMBLING GOOF (The New York Post 2/21)