Immigration task force head has more time

Published: Nov. 10, 2010 at 10:50 PM


PHOENIX, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- The head of Arizona's task force on illegal immigration says his investigators now have time to go after the ringleaders of smuggling gangs.

Capt. Fred Zumbo of the state Department of Public Safety told The Arizona Republic the task force, known by the acronym IMPACT, is finding fewer large drophouses packed with illegal immigrants. But last month, he said, investigators were able to follow leads to a house in Phoenix where they made three arrests and found information allowing them to target other smugglers, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

"IIMPACT has transitioned into that realm where we're able to take raw intelligence and build it up," Zumbo said. "We didn't have time to really look at the organizations because we were going to these megadrophouses. Every week, we were hitting drophouses with 40 to 50 people, and that's a lot of paperwork."

The number of illegal immigrants is believed to have declined steadily since 2007. Zumbo believes the reason is more aggressive law enforcement but others say the economic slump has led many Mexicans and Central Americans to stay home.

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