Arizona town to get new border patrol station

Associated Press - March 6, 2010 5:44 PM ET

WELLTON, Ariz. (AP) - U.S. Border Patrol agents in southwestern Arizona will have a new station to call home next year.

Ground was broken on the Wellton Station on Friday. The project is expected to be done in the fall of 2011.

The $22 million complex will have 50,000 square feet of state-of-the-art work space for 300 agents.

It also will include a canine facility and a 1,600-square-foot garage to help service a fleet of vehicles.

The Border Patrol says the existing station opened in 1955 with two officers assigned to farms in the surrounding area. Now, agents from the station cover more than 3,000 square miles and 65 miles of international border.

Officials say there were almost 2,000 apprehensions and 434 drug seizures totaling almost $24 million during the last fiscal year.

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