The southern part of the state busted a drug smuggling and transporting illegal immigrant gang

The southern part of the state busted a drug smuggling and transporting illegal immigrant gang. The authorities said that the police broke up a group last Thursday that smuggled marijuana and imported illegal immigrants through the Indian reservation in the southern part of the state...

The southern part of the state busted a drug smuggling and transporting illegal immigrant gang. The authorities said that the police broke up a group last Thursday that smuggled marijuana and imported illegal immigrants through the southern Indian reservation. The group began shipping tons of Mexican-made marijuana into the United States through the Tohono O’Odham tribal reservation south of Tucson in 2008, Arizona Attorney General Tom Horn said. In addition to drugs, illegal immigrants are also transported to the United States in exchange for cash and weapons to be brought back to Mexico. Twenty-one of the 46 arrested suspects were Mexican citizens and were charged with smuggling, conspiracy, money laundering and other crimes, Horn said. The group's leader, Jesus Valencia Rodriguez, remains at large and is believed to be hiding in Mexico. Since 2008, more than 150 drug cases involving 28,000 pounds of marijuana and 41 firearms assaults have been linked to the group. Most disturbingly, Horn said, smugglers use sophisticated detection equipment, such as night vision equipment and walkie-talkies, to evade U.S. Border Patrol agents. "This creates a significant challenge for our law enforcement community," Horn said. “This shows that we have to be more vigilant in dealing with them.” State, federal and autonomous authorities have worked together to uncover criminal groups that mainly used members of the Tohono O’Odham tribe to bring drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States by taking advantage of the free trade agreement between the two countries under the U.S.-Mexico Free Trade Agreement. Some of those charged are members of the Tohono O’Odham tribe. "Members of the tribe have to be able to go back and forth because they remain on both sides of the border," Horn said. "So we have to be able to detect when they are not legitimate tribal members going about their daily business, but are actually smuggling drugs or other illegal immigrants." The reservation covers an area of ​​more than 4,400 square miles and has become a regular conduit for drugs, and illegal immigrants to Phoenix are also concentrated here from the original northern mountains to cross the border. Tohono O’Odham Chairman Ned said the tribe wants to stop drug trafficking to protect the United States and the reservation. Marijuana is brought to the U.S. by backpackers, hidden in cars, hidden under the tires of cross-border trucks, and other methods.