Pot-transporting ring taken down by Pinal officers
Drugs carried over reservation by backpackers
October 27, 2009
www.azstarnet.com
Phoenix — Law-enforcement officers said they have broken up
a drug-trafficking ring that was bringing 60,000 pounds of marijuana a year into
Arizona, mainly carried across the desert in backpacks.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu said the operation came to light with a routine
traffic stop last year that yielded about $229,000 in cash. Babeu said that rather
than simply take down those in the vehicle, his department worked with the Drug
Enforcement Administration to go after the whole operation.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu discusses
how a routine traffic stop led to what he
said is
the destruction of an entire
marijuana-transportation operation.
Photo and source by Howard Fischer / azstarnet.com
What they found, the sheriff said, was a group that hand-carried marijuana across
the border through the Tohono O'odham Reservation.
Smugglers, carrying 50 to 100 pounds apiece, could take up to 10 days to reach their
destination, with the organization leaving food and water at some predetermined
locations. Eventually the drugs would wind up at stash houses in Pinal County.
To date, 21 people have been arrested, including Robert Hernandez, 38, of Arizona
City, who Attorney General Terry Goddard said is the leader of the organization.
He's facing charges that include transporting marijuana, conspiracy, money laundering
and use of a minor to commit a drug offense. That last one stems from hiring teens
to take the drugs from the individual backpackers and drive it the last length to
the stash houses, officials said.
They also have seized nearly 4,000 pounds of marijuana, 21 vehicles and several
assault rifles.
Babeu said it is not surprising the smugglers chose to route their drugs through
the reservation, which straddles the international border. He said the sheer size
of the reservation and the sparse population make that a popular route.
"These people don't want to be detected," the sheriff said.
In addition, Babeu said, much of the border through the reservation is without any
sort of meaningful barrier.
Goddard said it made sense to pursue the investigation, rather than just go for
some quick publicity.
"We're talking about an entire organization that was identified through some very
good police work over a period of about nine months," Goddard said. "And then, through
a multi-agency cooperation, we're bringing them to an end. They're gone."
Goddard said he believes this particular group was operating for about three years.
But he conceded that even taking out a group that was bringing in 60,000 pounds
a year amounts to just a portion of what is coming into Arizona.
"I'd love to tell you that we've struck a death blow to the whole organization,"
he said. "I cannot say that."
Nor can he say for which Mexican drug cartel this particular transportation group
was working.
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