Human Smugglers Flocking to Arizona Over Border Crisis’ Economic Opportunity

Human Smugglers Flocking to Arizona Over Border Crisis’ Economic Opportunity

by | Oct 5, 2022 | News

By Corinne Murdock |

The torrent of illegal immigrants defining the border crisis is drawing human smugglers nationwide to Arizona like moths to a flame. 

Last Wednesday, Operation Safe Streets with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office arrested a Michigan man smuggling four illegal immigrants. Then on Thursday, their officers arrested a Florida man and woman smuggling eight illegal immigrants with drugs in the car.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that smuggling brings in up to $15,000 per illegal immigrant or more, depending on if the individual comes from further away. As some smugglers note to reporters, the cost depends on the risk — which includes distance traveled. Based on what those smugglers shared, an individual smuggler’s cut is likely anywhere from one-third to half of what the illegal immigrant pays.

Last Sunday, CBP officers arrested a New Mexico man smuggling five illegal immigrants while driving under the influence.

Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told “The Conservative Circus” that 926 individuals were arrested in his county for border-related crimes, 50 of whom were foreign-born. Their county jail can only hold 302 people. 

Dannels explained that the high number of Americans involved in smuggling is influenced in part by the poor state of the economy.

“As economies fail, crime increases. This is advantageous to the criminal cartels that are using Americans all over the country to come to Cochise and other counties on the border to exploit their criminal behavior,” said Dannels. 

Dannels added that the smugglers are reckless and destructive. He shared that, just last week, smugglers damaged two of his officers’ vehicles by driving into them and injured one of his officers.

Dannels said that the Biden administration refuses to mitigate the border crisis. He opined that the only possibility of improvement would come from a change in elected officials.

“The only change that’s ever going to take place, they’ve made it clear, is that people need to get out and vote in November,” said Dannels. “Border security is community security.”

Dannels stated that Biden needed to make a public statement condemning illegal crossers and declaring that the current border activity constituted a crime. 

“It’s almost like we’re America second on this border down here. We have been the forgotten Americans on this border,” said Dannels.

These apprehensions are in addition to the many Arizonans arrested for smuggling illegal immigrants and drugs. 

Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.

USBP Tucson Sector Chief Reveals Arrests And Dangers Agents Face

USBP Tucson Sector Chief Reveals Arrests And Dangers Agents Face

by | Apr 10, 2022 | News

By Terri Jo Neff |

As politicians and pundits debate whether the Title 42 public health directive should end May 23 along the southwest border, the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector continue to risk their lives protecting the country.

That is the message from USBP Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin, who took to Twitter several times last week to demonstrate the efforts by his 3,700 agents and the dangers they face.

In one of his tweets, Modlin celebrated drone technology which led to a smuggling arrest near Douglas.  

And on April 10, Modlin tweeted about an attack on one such agent who was patrolling near the border fence in Cochise County.

Also on April 10, Modlin tweeted about a human smuggling arrest made by his agents from the Sector’s Willcox Station. According to Modlin. USBP agents pulled behind a vehicle near Benson when suddenly the driver pulled into a parking lot and entered a store.

The driver was arrested and seven undocumented non-U.S. citizens were apprehended. A firearm was also seized during the incident, Modlin noted.

USBP agents never know who they will encounter. Such as what happened Saturday when Tucson Sector Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) agents near Douglas arrested Antonio Hernandez-Lincona. According to Modlin, Hernandez-Lincona has “several prior convictions of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor” in California.

Modlin also tweeted on April 9 about the seizure of more than 18 pounds of deadly fentanyl at the Interstate 19 checkpoint.

And on April 8, Modlin once again used Twitter to publicize the capture of nine migrants being smuggled in a pickup pulling a horse trailer.

Also last week, more than 50 adult Cuban nationals were encountered by USBP agents near Sasabe. There were also citizens from Guatemala and Nicaragua in the same group, Modlin reported.

Then on April 7, Modlin tweeted about the involvement of his agents in returning a rape suspect to Mexican authorities.

Earlier in the week, Modlin shared information about the arrest of Efrain Guillen-Olivas who faces criminal charges in the U.S. after illegally crossing the border near Naco. 

Guillen-Olivas, a Mexican national, “has an extensive #criminal history, including felony #convictions for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, kidnapping, and sexual assault,” according to Modlin’s April 6 tweet.

Modlin also shared information on his Twitter account about the efforts of one of his agents to provide emergency medical care until a migrant could be airlifted to a hospital.