TUCSON - Federal agents will be making a greater effort in Arizona to ensure potential terrorists do not cross the U.S.-Mexico border, the state's top federal immigration and customs enforcement official said Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Arizona is concerned that terrorist groups, including al-Qaida operatives, are working with those involved in the people-, drug- and contraband-smuggling operations in Mexico and the United States, said Michael Turner, who assumed control of the merged Phoenix and Tucson ICE operations last week.
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The terrorists may use the smugglers to bring in nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction into America, he said during a press conference in Tucson.
Turner added that there is a tremendous threat that smugglers could become a terrorist conduit.
"Smugglers smuggle for one reason - money," Turner said.
Those involved in terrorist activities know cash, not political beliefs, is the incentive for those involved in smuggling operations, he said.
No known terrorists or potential weapons of mass destruction have been apprehended or confiscated after being brought into the country from Mexico, Turner emphasized.
"No one has been charged with terrorism-related offenses," he said.
One of Turner's top goals is to see if the Arizona ICE functions needs to be overhauled beyond combining what was two separate functions in the state that once was confusing and designed based "on an artificial geographic line."
The Arizona ICE headquarters has two divisions. One is in Phoenix headed by Patricia Schmidt, the deputy special agent in charge. The other, located in Tucson, is headed by Kent Johansson, another deputy special agent in charge.
Noting the ICE office in Sierra Vista was closed and the agents now work out of the Douglas facility, Turner said that decision was made before he took over as the new combined state ICE operations.
While he could give no guarantee the Sierra Vista office will be reopened, Turner said he wants to look at how operations are done throughout the state. This, he said, could lead to creating new offices, shutting down those no longer needed or reopening those that were closed.
For Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, it is not a matter of where an office is located. The main objective is to make sure ICE investigators are out in the field, he said.
With today's technology, there is no reason anyone involved in law enforcement cannot have a mobile office in a vehicle, Dever said.
Having a brick-and-mortar office in the county can work as long as the communications technology is properly used, the sheriff added.
The Cochise County Sheriff's Department has a desk at the ICE office in Douglas, as does the Douglas Police Department. The joint operation aspects primarily involve anti-drug operations through the Border Alliance Group, established some years ago to join federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to act as a central agency.
If more than one ICE office in the county is needed, the reason should be based on having additional Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, he said.
Turner said ICE, which became a new law enforcement entity with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, is becoming more successful by working with other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The Arizona Border Control Initiative, created by the Department of Homeland Security, is a continuing success story, both in Arizona and throughout the nation, he said.
On Thursday, a drug and money smuggling operation was broken up that included an Arizona connection.
The investigation led to the arrest of 22 people - 12 in New York, five in Florida, four in Arizona and one in Pennsylvania - along with the seizure of $2.5 million, 150 pounds of marijuana, seven luxury vehicles, two bulletproof vests, four high-powered rifles, three shotguns and six handguns, according to an ICE press release.
An organization reportedly purchased large quantities of marijuana from suppliers in Arizona and transported the drug loads by trucks to New York and Florida for distribution, the release stated.
The money from the sale of the drugs went through a money-laundering process with couriers carrying the cash to Arizona, mainly through an American Airlines employee, the release stated.
Turner said the breakup of the ring is an example of how far-reaching ICE operations are by working with other agencies. In Arizona, there have been successful operations targeting smuggling operations, he said.
One, dubbed Operation Car Wars, discovered that a number of used car dealers in the Phoenix area were selling vehicles to smugglers, registering them to a third party, who had no knowledge of the action, and then kept the vehicles on their lots until needed to transport loads of people or drugs.
If a vehicle was stopped, the paperwork came back to an innocent third party and the vehicle was released to the used car dealer, pending it being turned over to the owner.
The car or truck usually went back on the lot until a smuggler needed it, Turner said.
The agency and other law enforcement groups also have broken up stash houses where people were kept in horrendous conditions after being smuggled into the United States.
ICE's major duties are crimes related to terrorism and smuggling.
Mexico is doing more to assist and officials of that country have taken actions to control illegal activities by their law enforcement agencies, Turner noted.
Now that all of Arizona is consolidated, he plans to ensure all the resources are properly used to stop criminal activities. Turner said more joint efforts using other federal, state and local agencies must be done.
"Federal law activities are really local law activities," he said.
SENIOR REPORTER Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
