Private Americans Patrol the Smuggler-Blighted Border Badlands of Arizona

As blazing sunlight ebbs to a star-studded sky along the U.S.-Mexico border, members of the Arizona Border Recon group peer through field glasses at a trio of men on the southern side in camouflage fatigues and carrying pistols and AK-47s.

The men, almost certainly members of Sinaloa cartel factions, are using their own binoculars to scan random gaps in a roughly 30-foot-high wall of thick metal bars that stretches for miles along a flatland carved by arroyos and dotted with rocks, saguaro cactus and high grasses. At times, a solo gunshot echoes on the Mexican side, a sound the AZBR knows from experience is a signal to people to start moving north.

Read the full story

Arizona Troopers Seize Enough Fentanyl to Kill Nearly 800,000 People

Arizona state troopers last week seized enough fentanyl to kill nearly 800,000 people. The fentanyl had been smuggled in a pickup truck and made it nearly 150 miles north of the border, authorities said.

Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers on Feb. 16 responded to reports of a single-vehicle collision on I-10 in Sacaton. Located just south of Phoenix, it’s a straight shot north along highways I-19 and I-10, 146 miles from Nogales, Mexico.

Read the full story

Booted from GoFundMe, Legal Defense Funds for Rancher Who Fatally Shot Illegal Immigrant Raise over $350,000 on GiveSendGo

George Alan Kelly, a southern Arizona rancher, received over $350,000 in legal defense fund aid on GiveSendGo after being kicked off of GoFundMe for trying to raise money for his case.

Kelly is being charged with first-degree, premeditated murder for allegedly shooting an illegal immigrant on his property on January 30. GoFundMe took off multiple legal defense funds for Kelly because the company said these funds violated its terms of service about raising money “to cover the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime.”

Read the full story

Arizona Patient Samples Show a 261 Percent Increase in Fentanyl Positivity Since 2019

A new study from the California-based Millennium Health (MH) showed that fentanyl positivity increased in Arizona by 261 percent between the first half of 2022 and 2019.

“We have already seen too many Arizona families lose loved ones to drugs. Our goal is to work hand-in-hand with public health and safety authorities, health care providers, and community organizations to proactively address drug exposures and help prevent drug overdose deaths,” said Angela Huskey, PharmD, CPE, Chief Clinical Officer at MH.

Read the full story

Border Patrol Agents Seize Record Amounts of Deadly Fentanyl, Meth in Arizona, Texas

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are seizing record amounts of fentanyl and meth in Arizona and Texas brought in by Mexican cartel operatives and foreign nationals trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

In just five separate inspections ahead of Labor Day weekend, for example, officers seized 625,000 pills in Nogales, Arizona, which borders Sonora, Mexico, Michael Humphries, CBP Director of the Nogales Port of Entry, said.

Read the full story

CDC: Arizona County has Vaccinated 99.9% of Population

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that a southern Arizona county has reached 99.9 percent vaccination of its eligible population, apparently the first county in America to reach that benchmark since the COVID-19 vaccine became available earlier this year. 

Santa Cruz County, which includes the city of Nogales, is almost completely vaccinated, though the county’s Heath and Human Services (HHS) Director says the numbers may be a bit inflated. 

Read the full story