The Tucson Sector continues to struggle with an influx of migrants as 2024 could mark a new chapter in Arizona’s border crisis.
The sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Friday that there were 16,800 apprehensions this week alone.Â
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As part of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security’s investigation into the “dereliction of duty” of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, it and members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability conducted interviews with eight U.S. Border Patrol chief patrol agents and one deputy chief patrol agent.Â
The interviews were conducted to obtain more information about operations in their sectors as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation “into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders, and the role of Secretary Mayorkas in facilitating and maintaining this crisis.”
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U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI-06) will hear from real Americans impacted by President Joe Biden’s border policies at a congressional field hearing on Tuesday in Arizona.
Grothman, chairman of the House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs, is teaming up with U.S. Representative Andy Biggs (R-AZ-05), chairman of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance, in holding the joint-committee hearing in Sierra Vista, AZ.
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U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents at the Tucson Sector in Arizona apprehended 10,000 individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States in just one week, according to Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin.
In an update issued Monday, Modlin said there were 10,000 apprehensions of illegal border crossers, 430 rescues, 21 human smuggling events, and 11 narcotics seizures recorded at the Tucson sector between July 20 and July 28. In a tweet, Modlin added that USBP agents also seized 6 pounds of fentanyl, six pounds of methamphetamine, and three firearms.
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Steve Lugo Leon, 24, of Phoenix, Arizona, has been sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to intending to distribute an illicit substance containing fentanyl, according to a Thursday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (District).
The incident occurred back in 2021 at the Arizona Mills Mall in Tempe. Leon had arranged to sell fentanyl pills and methamphetamine with a client, but when police showed up, the dealer attempted to flee in his vehicle. He also had an accomplice in the car, Rafael Ivan Valenzuela Chairez, 20, of Phoenix; however, in the ensuing chase, Leon hit another vehicle, causing his truck to flip on its side. Chairez attempted to flee on foot, but both dealers were apprehended by police. Officers then found 946 grams of fentanyl, around 9,000 pills, and 12.83 kilograms of methamphetamine.
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The Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office (District) announced Wednesday the results of a multi-agency collaboration under Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen that has resulted in “more than a ton of fentanyl” being confiscated along Arizona’s border between March 6th and May 8th.
“Thanks to the efforts of our partners at the Department of Homeland Security, we prevented substantial amounts of fentanyl and other drugs from reaching Arizona neighborhoods,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino.
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Tucson resident Michael Lopez-Loreto, 22, has been sentenced by the U.S. District Court for conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants for profit and placing the life of a person in jeopardy.
According to a Tuesday release from the Arizona District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Lopez-Loreto is going to jail for two-and-a-half years following an incident in January 2023. After receiving a call from a property owner reporting an unidentified car parked on their land, Border Patrol agents witnessed people running through the desert into Lopez-Loreto’s car. However, the group ran into agents blocking the road before he could make it far.
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Over the weekend, a large group of minor illegal aliens was caught crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico near the town of Sasabe.
“A group of 51 migrants, mostly Guatemalan citizens, were taken into custody by Tucson Station agents near Sasabe, AZ. There was only one adult in the group, and the youngest child was just 11-months-old,” said John Modlin, Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector. “Several agents responded to assist with transport and processing.”
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