Las Cruces Sun-News (New Mexico)
January 31, 2012 Tuesday

By Matt Robinson, Headlight Staff
Sheriffs from Colorado are about to get a taste of law enforcement along the border as the New Mexico Border Sheriff's Association hosts a two-day conference in Las Cruces.

Lt. John Mooradian, of the Luna County Sheriff's Office, announced Monday morning that the LCSO will join its four partners - Grant, Hidalgo, Otero and Doca Ana counties - in the NMBSA to host at least 20 sheriff's offices from Colorado and New Mexico's congressional delegation. The influence of crime across the country that begins along the border will be the focus of the law enforcement officers.

The summit will begin today at the Hotel E in Las Cruces and shift into tours of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry and the border on Wednesday. The summit is not open to the public.

"They regularly meet, this group of sheriffs, to talk about issues on the border and how border security issues in Doca Ana County, Luna County and Hidalgo County affect counties in the north and how our problem sort of eventually becomes their problem," Kelly Jameson, public information officer with the Doca Ana County Sheriff's Department, said. "We have studied the migration of illegal aliens and how they end up in Denver; it's a popular place."

With the sharp decline in the apprehensions of illegal immigrants coinciding with beefed up resources, local authorities and those from Colorado are looking to better coordinate investigating drug and human smuggling, as well as other issues stemming from the border. The very nature of drug and human smuggling can create legs for the crimes across the country, so authorities hope networking and tours of New Mexico's border can better equip officers in each state to work together and share information. "There's a lot of misconceptions," Lt. Mooradian said of policing the border. "I don't think people realize how vast and how big that border is."
Luna County shares 54 miles of border with Mexico of the approximately 180 for the state. With the Columbus Port of Entry and multiple roadways, including Interstate 10 and Highway 9 to El Paso, particular attention at the state and federal levels has been put on Luna County.

In 2005, in response to growing violence in Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson declared the border to be in a state of emergency. His proclamation authorized $1.75 million in funding to border departments, $750,000 of which was allocated to Luna, Doca Ana, Grant and Hidalgo counties.

Federal Operation Stonegarden money has also funded patrols, equipment and overtime for Luna County and 13 border states.

"We're getting a great amount of help from the federal government," Lt. Mooradian said. "We want to talk about our successes. We can't talk about our successes without talking about our congressional delegation."

Those successes are measured as part of the overall El Paso Sector within the United States Border Patrol. From a high in fiscal year 2005 to the low in 2010, yearly apprehensions fell to 12,251 from 122,655.
The value of narcotics seizures has also dramatically fallen, from the nearly $165 million in drugs confiscated in 2005 to the approximately $70 million in 2010.

In a 2011 statement to congress, Sheriff Raymond Cobos credited the doubling of USBP agents in the Deming Station to about 500, increased technological infrastructure along the border and combined agency operations - particularly those on all-terrain vehicles - as helping the border security effort.

Participants in the Wednesday portion of the summit will get the chance to experience the border atop ATVs and from the sky in helicopters. The LCSO frequently assists the USBP in mounted patrols of the border.

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