Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard will reveal details tomorrow of the break-up of a large smuggling syndicate thanks to the work of several law enforcement agencies (but not the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office).
While Sheriff Joe Arpaio was rousting corn vendors and trying to one-up Mesa Police Chief George Gascon, Phoenix police, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Bureau were working more quietly on busting the high-level smugglers. Now it's these agencies and state prosecutor Goddard's office that appear to be doing the most on the immigration front.
Of course, we must reserve some comment until the whole story is revealed at tomorrow's noon press conference. But initial details from the AG's office state the syndicate brought in about $63,000 a week by smuggling drugs and immigrants.
Yeah, that seems fairly major.
While we can feel less sorry for smuggling kingpins than hard-working (albeit undocumented) immigrants, this latest bust shows once again how much local law enforcement is doing about the problems relating to illegal immigration, as detailed in a recent New Times feature article.
We're fairly certain that attacking the head of the problem (DPS, Phoenix police, ICE) is a lot better than attacking the feet (MCSO).
When cops take career criminals and smugglers off the street -- instead of families and those guilty of nothing but working here illegally -- few doubt the good they're doing. -- Ray Stern
