Pinal County Sheriff's Office special task force would target drug cartels, illegal immigrants

by Lindsey Collom - Oct. 14, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

Pinal County Deputy Scott Abernathy navigated the bumpy patches of trail carved through the desert as if he had designed the haphazard network.

Abernathy often travels these paths to look for trafficking activity. More often than not, he said, he finds it.

On a recent weeknight, his county vehicle barreled across the valley below the Sawtooth Mountains, a small range in western Pinal.

"Looks like he dropped another," said a voice, adding that "Border Patrol is in front of us now."

Abernathy filed in behind other law-enforcement vehicles closing in on their target: a truck suspected of aiding Mexican cartels that move drugs and illegal immigrants through the area.

Late last month, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office and U.S. Border Patrol worked over three days during a special enforcement campaign to halt cartel activity near Silverbell and Arizona City.

But Sheriff Paul Babeu says special enforcement is not enough. On Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office presented county supervisors with a proposal for seven new law-enforcement positions to battle illegal immigration and drug smuggling.

The proposed Anti Smuggling Enforcement Unit, a team of one sergeant and six deputies, would be tasked with crime prevention and law enforcement on anti-smuggling issues.

Babeu says the incomplete border fence is funneling smugglers from Mexico through the Tohono O'odham Reservation and right into Pinal.

Each night, sheriff's officials say, the desert is alive with activity: Loads of drugs and illegal immigrants crisscross rugged terrain while vehicles retrieve and drop off lookouts to aid the safe passage of cargo.

And law enforcement scrambles to stop them, they say.

Babeu told the supervisors the unit would focus on "taking out the eyes" of cartel operations, namely lookouts.

"It's not going to be like Border Patrol, arresting hundreds of thousands," Babeu said. "The intent of this unit is to blind their operations and keep them out of Pinal County. Will they go somewhere else? Yes, but we'll be protecting our citizens."

The Sheriff's Office has estimated the unit will cost more than $1 million the first year and about $500,000 the second. Babeu offered to use RICO funds, money seized in racketeering cases and given to law enforcement, to pay for half of the costs.

Board Chairman Pete Rios said he worried about additional costs that the county could incur as a result of possible increased arrests and more work for the courts. Additionally, he said, the county is bracing for 2011, when officials expect the Legislature will shift additional costs to counties to balance state coffers.

Supervisor Bryan Martyn said he'd rather "take his chances" with the budget in favor of more law enforcement.

"There are plenty of programs that are important to our citizens, (but) none are more important than safety," Martyn said. "Our fight in Pinal County is to do all we can to slow and curb and deflect these bad guys from affecting out citizens."

A vote on the issue could take place within weeks. County Manager Terry Doolittle said Justice Department officials would soon present to supervisors their assessment of smuggling activity in Pinal County.

The Sheriff's Office this week said deputies arrested a cartel lookout from a mountainside, seized 221 pounds of marijuana and recovered two stolen vehicles in the three-day effort with Border Patrol. Lt. Scott Elliott, supervisor of special operations for the Sheriff's Office, said deputies also gained valuable intelligence regarding traffic patterns and cartel tactics.

Part of the enforcement operation ended up within a mile of homes in Silverbell, where residents have reported an increasing number of burglaries.

"I feel bad for the people in Silverbell," Abernathy said. "People retired, bought 10, 15 acres, built their dream home out there, and then come to find out there's spotters and illegals coming through there, breaking into their house, stealing their food. And it's not just on occasion; it's on a regular basis."
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