Sheriff Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County

Arizona sheriff targeted by Mexican cartel with $1 million bounty

By Jim Kouri
Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The good news for Arizonians is that Maricopa County—which includes Phoenix—has a tough law enforcement commander to protect them. The bad news is that a Mexican drug cartel has placed a $1 million bounty on Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s head.

According to MyFoxPhoenix.com, a man who requested anonymity claims his wife received a text message included an international phone number and instructions to pass the message along on Tuesday evening. The message placed a $1 million bounty on Sheriff Arpaio’s head and a $1 thousand incentive to join the drug cartel..

Lisa Allen of the Sheriff’s office told MyFoxPhoenix.com that they believe the message originated in Mexico. Although the Sheriff routinely received death threats in the past, they believe this threat is credible because of its timing.

While the pleas from American citizens in Arizona and other states fell on deaf ears in Washington, DC, the violence and crime at the U.S.-Mexico border continues unabated.
Sheriff Arpaio has been targeted by the Obama Justice Department and Democrats in his own state because of his tough immigration enforcement policy.

Meanwhile, a deadly Mexican gang is actively plotting to kill U.S. law enforcement officers and their families in Texas, according to a Department of Homeland Security alert that warns U.S. cops to wear body armor and vary routes to avoid being tracked.

The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars to fight Mexican drug cartels yet they continue to be the nation’s largest supplier of illicit narcotics and violent Mexican gangs have expanded into every region of the country, including idyllic rural areas.

“This is hardly earth-shattering news since Mexico has long represented the single greatest drug trafficking threat to the U.S., despite Uncle Sam’s multi billion-dollar effort to halt the northbound flow of narcotics. The costly investment has failed miserably, according to a federal report that reveals Mexican heroin production has actually doubled in the last year,â€