On Thursday morning, Cochise County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Benson Police officers, in separate events within three hours, arrested human smugglers and their human cargo was taken into custody. It was a typical day on the southern border in Arizona.
In response to the dangerous conditions human smuggling has created, sheriffs’ deputies from across Arizona will work their shifts in Cochise County to help staunch the flow of drugs and human smuggling into the state.
The Arizona Sheriffs Association announced this week they are sending deputies from Apache, Coconino, Navajo, Pinal, and Yavapai to Cochise County to work alongside other law enforcement to curb border related crime.
“Everyday, sheriffs’ deputies around the state encounter drug and human smugglers in our communities,” Arizona Sheriffs Association president and Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said. “This is not a border region problem but a crisis in all of Arizona.”
“It is our duty to protect the communities we serve and that starts at the U.S.-Mexico border,” Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb said. “For far too long, the border areas have been open to the drug cartels. We must work to shut off these cartels from ruining America.”
10/24, USBP agents apprehended 2 subjects w/ criminal history:
– Murder Charge
– Member of a Drug Trafficking Organization w/ an Active WarrantDYK: This calendar year (2023), on average, the USBP has arrested more than 47 subjects per day with serious criminal histories. pic.twitter.com/zt0jQr3MY4
— Chief Jason Owens (@USBPChief) October 26, 2023
The increased effort from county sheriffs is part of the Safe Streets II Task Force in Cochise.
Recently, high speed chases involving human and drug smugglers have increased, resulting in deaths and injuries among innocent residents.
“Criminal gangs that smuggle drugs and people across the border often end up in Coconino County and threaten our law enforcement and residents,” Coconino Sheriff Jim Driscoll said.
“I’d rather deter those criminals at the border and stop them from using our county as a transit corridor.”
The task force features law enforcement members from local, state and federal agencies.
According to the Task Force, members will gather intelligence and attempt to apprehend human and drug smugglers. The sheriffs departments are sending both men and assets to the Cochise County for the next several weeks to deter border-related crime.
“We are grateful that law enforcement from across the state are converging in southern Arizona to curb the human and drug smuggling,” Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels said. “This show of force sends a strong message to the cartels that Arizona is serious about tackling these criminal gangs.”