Last week, Sheriff Joe Arpaio reported that a total of 16 undocumented entrants were arrested in the during a Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office operation in the Southeast Valley. Two of these incidents ended with short vehicle chases through the desert as the suspects attempted to get away.
The most recent chase occurred last Wednesday night when six suspected undocumented entrants, two of which were in the trunk of the vehicle, drove into the desert in attempt to get away from deputies. One of the undocumented entrants in the trunk suffered a laceration to the head and he was transported to Maricopa Medical Center for medical attention.
During one of the investigations, Sheriff’s deputies tried to approach a vehicle they had observed at a high rate of speed, when the vehicle sped away, going off road driving through a barb-wire fence into the desert. The suspect vehicle sustained damage to include flat tires but continued to drive for about one mile before eight occupants, including the driver, fled on foot into the thick brush. Immediately deputies created a perimeter and with the use of the Sheriff’s helicopter and K-9 units, they located one suspect hiding in a backyard of a residence and all others hiding in a wash.
In a separate incident detectives from the Sheriff’s Human Smuggling Unit observed a red vehicle on the side of a well-traveled road in southern Maricopa County being loaded with what appeared to be large bundles of marijuana. Detectives approached the vehicle and four Hispanic males immediately fled into the desert while the vehicle, occupied by two other Hispanic males, sped off. It came to an abrupt stop a short distance later where the two occupants fled on foot into the desert.
Sheriff’s detectives searched the area for over an hour and were able to locate and arrest four undocumented entrants. Inside the vehicle were three large bales of marijuana weighing approximately 120.5 lbs, with a street value of $62,000.
Sheriff Joe Arpaio says, “Once again the entry into Maricopa County from Mexico by illegal aliens does not seem to have subsided by evidence of numerous arrests made by my deputies. Aside from their determination to get away we will continue to make every effort to pursue and apprehend human smugglers as well as drug traffickers. More and more illegal aliens are attempting to escape which places my deputies in dangerous positions. In the near future I will be issuing automatic weapons for all my deputies”.
In all these incidents detectives obtained several indicators of a human smuggling. It was learned the suspects paid between $2,000 and $3,500 to be illegally smuggled into the United States. The destinations of the suspects included California, Missouri, Tennessee, New Jersey, Colorado, Phoenix, Texas and Idaho. All the suspected illegal aliens admitted to being Mexican Nationals and admitted crossing into the country through the Arizona, Mexico Border.
To date the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office has arrested over 5,748 undocumented entrants involved in human smuggling.