Deputies arrest 37 during 5 hour anti-smuggling operation
Reported by: Christen Bejar
Email: cbejar@abc15.com
Last Update: 4:58 pm

PHOENIX, AZ – Maricopa County Sheriff’s deputies reportedly made 37 arrests in a five-hour span Monday night while carrying out anti-human smuggling operations.

According to authorities, deputies made numerous traffic stops along Interstate 17 near Anthem and in several parts of the East Valley, resulting in the arrests.

Of the 37 arrested, 36 were undocumented immigrants, officials say.

Deputies reportedly booked 23 of the undocumented immigrants into the Fourth Avenue Jail under state felony human smuggling charges.

The remaining 11 arrested under federal charges were transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), authorities say.

These latest efforts bring the total of undocumented immigrants arrested on state felony charges to 207 in just the past five weeks, according to officials.

Sherrif Joe Arpaio says he is planning another crime suppression operation in the near future.

“I will not stop enforcing the law, regardless of an activist with a camera or a City of Phoenix Councilman following me around,â€