Nearly every day they make their way across Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties with little to no interference, but by the time they find their way into Pinal County they are not so fortunate and on the morning of Nov. 5, Pinal County Sheriff’s detectives working with the overworked and under funded agents of the US Border Patrol interdicted and seized 1737 pounds of marijuana, and arrested 21 drug smugglers from Mexico.
Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), the first contact was made by a PCSO deputy on Interstate 8 near milepost 157 at 2:30 a.m. The deputy observed a Ford Focus sedan pull from the side of the interstate and head eastbound at a high rate of speed. The deputy stopped the car near the Stanfield Road exit.
When the deputy approached the car, he noticed six occupants and a camouflaged bale in the back seat that he suspected of being marijuana. One suspect fled from the vehicle and five others were detained. A search of the car netted three bales of marijuana, totaling 150 pounds. Of the five smugglers detained, three were Mexican Nationals in the country illegally and two were U.S. citizens.
The second seizure took place near Meadowview Road and SR 347. A deputy on routine patrol observed a gold minivan turn onto Meadowview from SR 347 at 5:45 a.m. The deputy turned onto Meadowview and saw that the van had pulled to the side of the road and a group of 14 males were running toward the van with large packs. The deputy recognized this as smuggling activity and activated his emergency lights.
The males running toward the van all dropped the packs and ran back into the desert. The van was unoccupied when the deputy got to it.
The deputy located 14 large bales of marijuana packaged in camouflaged material near the van and in the nearby desert. The total weight of the seized marijuana was 592 pounds. None of the smugglers or van driver were located.
At 8 a.m., the US Border Patrol requested assistance from PCSO with a group of 40 smugglers walking through a wash near Hidden Valley Road and Century Road. PCSO responded with ground and air units to help locate and apprehend the smugglers. Over a period of 3 hours and in rugged mountain terrain, 16 of the estimated 40 smugglers were apprehended by both Border Patrol agents and PCSO detectives from the Anti-Smuggling Unit. 40 bales of bundled marijuana weighing 995 pounds were located in the area where the smugglers had fled into the desert from the wash.
Sheriff Paul Babeu said, “A total of 1737 pounds of marijuana was seized with a street value estimated at over $800,000. 21 smugglers were arrested and 40 escaped capture and arrest. 19 suspects are Mexican Nationals who crossed the Mexican border with the drugs a few days prior to their arrest. Two suspects are U.S. citizens. All suspects are now behind bars in the Pinal County Jail charged with Drug Smuggling.”
Sheriff Babeu concluded, “This is further evidence that the Mexican Cartels continue their aggressive smuggling operations. Our heroes in the US Border Patrol deserve the full support of the President and our government to fully enforce immigration law and secure the border at the border, not 70 miles north where these smuggling crimes occurred.”