Pinal County hotspot for drug smugglers
June 11, 2009
News 4, Tucson, Az
Pinal County connects metro Phoenix to metro
Tucson. It's wide, desolate and a route of choice for drug smugglers.
The Pinal County Sheriff's Department has seen a massive influx of smugglers bringing
drugs through the county.
Pinal County hotspot for drug smugglers
Deputy David Hailey patrols the backroads of pinal county. Many times, he's not
even on roads, instead he travels the paths carved out by drug runners.
"Roads such as this are used by smugglers as interstates," Deputy Hailey says pointing
to a patch of desert.
Often times he's out in the middle of nowhere, just the place where drug and human
smugglers like to bring their loads into the US, by car and on foot.
"We've stepped up enforcement but we're seeing a great deal more of activity," says
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.
Since January, in Pinal County the number of drug seizures has quadrupled compared
to previous years.
The sheriff's evidence lockers prove it, they're filled with thousands of pounds
of marijuana.
The cars and trucks used to haul it across the desert have been seized as well.
If they get past Border Patrol and sheriff's deputies, which too often they do,
the drug runners will drop off their loads to other smugglers on Interstate 8.
"What they do is cut the bales of marijuana out of these homemade backpacks to make
it easier to store and to load into vehicle compartments," Deputy Hailey says.
They often do their dirty work as traffic whizzes by. Drivers are often unaware
that hundreds of thousands of dollars in dope is changing hands on the side of the
road.
"They'll stage in this brush, in these trees," Deputy Hailey says.
The water bottles, clothes, and food wrappers pile up. We didn't find any smugglers
during our ridealong, but we found clues they had been there.
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