Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told a sharply divided House committee Wednesday that drug trafficking and illegal immigration is getting worse and that it’s affecting the safety of residents in his border county. Read more»
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U.S. House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee blamed the Biden administration for fentanyl drug smuggling at the U.S.-Mexico border - though most fentanyl is seized at ports of entry through screenings and not brought by migrants fleeing violence or economic hardship. Read more»
A bill that would establish manufacturing fentanyl around a minor younger than 12 as a dangerous crime, and, according to some, would decrease the amount in a person’s possession that could land them a charge for intent to sell, passed its first hurdle to become Arizona law. Read more»
In the days leading up to the 2022 election, Republican Congressman Paul Gosar made an extraordinary claim about what the his party’s Arizona gubernatorial nominee, Kari Lake, might do in the name of stopping undocumented immigration if she wins office. Read more»
Sonoran journalist Juan Arjón, killed in August, has been the subject of a misinformation campaign, former colleagues said, blaming city officials in San Luis Río Colorado, the Mexican border town where they worked. Mexico is one of the world's most dangerous countries for reporters. Read more»
El periodista sonorense Juan Arjón, asesinado en agosto, ha sido objeto de una campaña de desinformación, dijeron ex-colegas, culpando a los funcionarios de la ciudad de San Luis Río Colorado, la ciudad fronteriza donde trabajaban. México es uno de los países más peligrosos para los reporteros. Read more»
Republican candidate for state attorney general Abraham Hamadeh, who denies the result of the 2020 presidential election, is campaigning on promises of increased border security, crackdowns on illicit fentanyl smuggling and support for law enforcement. Read more»
A 23-year-old man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for illegally buying at least 82 firearms from more than a dozen gun stores across Arizona and re-selling the weapons, including one linked to a murder in Mexico. Read more»
The number of migrant encounters at the Texas-Mexico border has climbed from 114,184 in March 2021, the month the mission began, to 122,680 in August — a failure of Abbott’s office’s stated desire to “stop this revolving door and deter others considering entering illegally.” Read more»
A federal appeals court ruled that the rights of a drug-smuggling defendant - found in a remote section of the Arizona desert - were violated when a district court handed down his conviction in writing and not in open court, denying him an opportunity to appear. Read more»
A 36-year-old man pleaded guilty Thursday to bribing a Border Patrol agent, paying the federal law enforcement officer nearly $64,000 to pick up people near Lukeville and slip them past the agency's checkpoints in Southern Arizona. Read more»
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Nogales discovered more than 237 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in the structural beams of a railroad freight car on Sunday, officials said. Read more»
For too long, we've played politics with the public health threat of fentanyl. It's time we addressed it with science-based solutions and raised awareness that cuts through the political talking points. Read more»
Residents of Nogales awoke Thursday to a new and soon-to-be permanent presence in the sky above them: a tethered observation blimp meant to give the U.S. Border Patrol round-the-clock, ground-level surveillance capability in the local area. Read more»
Governor Ducey signed a $564 million border security bill - pushed through the GOP-dominated Legislature along party lines - that allocates $335 million in state sales tax revenue to build and maintain a wall along the state’s border with Mexico. Read more»
A woman driving near Gila Bend was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents after they discovered more than 120 lbs. of meth worth an estimated $181,000 in her minivan, authorities said. Read more»