Written testimony of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations-Phoenix Special Agent in Charge Matthew Allen for a House Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security field hearing titled “Stopping the Flow of Illicit Drugs in Arizona by Leveraging State, Local and Federal Information Sharing”
Arizona is one of the entry and distribution point for drugs that enter the United States from Mexico. In fiscal year (FY) 2011, approximately 23 percent of the narcotics and approximately 53 percent of the currency and monetary instruments connected with narcotics investigations that HSI seized along the entire SWB were seized in Arizona. Specifically, in HSI’s Arizona area of responsibility, we seized approximately 307,000 pounds of marijuana, 5,400 pounds of cocaine, 1,300 pounds of methamphetamines, and 424 pounds of heroin.
The State of Arizona is bordered by the State of Sonora to our south and the Sinaloa Cartel is the dominant criminal element in the State of Sonora. The border areas in Mexico that adjoin the United States are divided by the Sinaloa Cartel into “Plazas” that are supervised by “Plaza Bosses” or “Gatekeepers.” These plaza bosses and gatekeepers are responsible for overseeing and coordinating smuggling activities in a given geographic area and collecting taxes or fees from anyone wishing to smuggle contraband, including human smuggling organizations.
We are often asked whether human smuggling organizations are part of the “cartels.” Based on HSI investigations and intelligence, it is our opinion that while alien smugglers pay taxes and fees to the cartels to smuggle in a specific geographic area, they are generally run as distinct criminal enterprises in both Mexico and the United States. We believe that the plaza bosses and gatekeepers play a coordinating role with alien smugglers, dictating when and where they will be allowed to cross the border. This coordination ensures that alien smugglers and their human cargo do not bring unwanted law enforcement attention, particularly in the United States, to their smuggling efforts. Our investigations have shown that when alien smugglers do not heed warnings from drug smuggling organizations about where and when they smuggle, they can be targeted for physical violence, including murder.
By volume, marijuana is the most frequently encountered smuggled drug in Arizona, and is most commonly smuggled between the ports of entry (POE) after having been backpacked across the international border with Mexico. However, CBP Officers at POEs seize marijuana daily from both commercial and privately-owned vehicles in quantities ranging from under one pound to multi-thousand pound loads in both commercial vehicles and cargo.
Link to the detailed testimony: here