Mexican drug cartels control parts of Arizona

By Roger Hedgecock

The United States is ceding parts of Arizona to the Mexican drug cartels. So says Pinal County (Ariz.) Sheriff Paul Babeu.
In a press conference ignored by the American national media, the sheriff described how his deputies were outmanned and outgunned by the cartel smugglers who increasingly operate using military tactics and weapons. The result, said Sheriff Babeu, was that a wide corridor of Arizona from the border north to the outskirts of Phoenix is effectively controlled by the cartels. “We do not have control of this area,” the sheriff said.
At the same time as the sheriff’s ignored press conference, the national media did cover assurances from the Obama administration that crime was down at the border; that the border had never been safer. This ludicrous propaganda was based on selected crime stats from San Diego, Phoenix, Austin and San Antonio. The new reign of terror on the border in Arizona was airbrushed out of the picture.
Here’s the real picture Obama does not want you to see. Warning signs were posted this past month by the federal government 80 miles north of the border on the south side of I-8 between Casa Grande and Gila Bend urging U.S. citizens not to camp or hike in the “Active Drug and Human Smuggling Area” because “Visitors May Encounter Armed Criminals.” Here is a picture of one of those signs: BlM Alert sign.jpg

Think about it. A part of America is off limits to U.S. citizens because it is now controlled by an army of foreigners.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife staffers report that the 3,500-acre Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge in this area is closed to U.S. citizens as well and is “adversely affected” by cartel operations. Where’s the Sierra Club?
The border between the U.S. and Mexico is almost 2,000 miles long. According to DEA sources, nearly half of all the cocaine and illegal aliens are smuggled into the U.S. over the 365-mile long Arizona border with Mexico. There’s a war going on in Arizona, which puts into perspective that state’s new immigration law and makes clear that the “boycott Arizona” effort is cartel propaganda. “Boycott” cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco are siding with the cartels.
As with other recent wars, the American taxpayer seems to be funding both sides of this one. The “War on Drugs,” “Homeland Security,” the FBI, the Justice Department — all spend billions every year. On the other side, Los Zetas and other elements of the various drug gangs in Mexico are composed of former Mexican Army troops who were originally trained in military tactics and weapons at your expense, some right here in the U.S.
The only reason the cartels have not taken over all of Mexico is that they frequently fight each other in bloody, largely unreported battles for control of valuable drug trafficking routes. Beheading of rival gang members and Mexican police are now routine. The latest barbarity was the grisly discovery of the skinned face of a murdered gang rival stretched over a soccer ball found in a youth soccer field.
Frequent cross-border incursions into the U.S. by cartel soldiers in Mexican Army uniforms driving American-made Humvees and toting automatic weapons support an increasingly sophisticated web of smuggling routes. Patrolling sheriff deputies or lone Border Patrol officers are no match for this firepower and are ordered to fall back when confronted with the cartels’ military might.
Aerial photographs taken by American civilian pilots show cartel bulldozers improving dirt roads across the undefended border after a seasonal rain to facilitate the nightly drug runs.
Obamanites attempt to blame you for this horrific state of affairs. If it weren’t for your drug demand, all this would not be happening. It’s like saying bank robbery is the bank’s fault for keeping so much tempting money in one place.
The border is a national security issue. Homeland Security has sent an official warning to border law enforcement agencies to watch for Somali terrorists suspected of taking advantage of the smuggling expertise of the cartels to sneak into the U.S. “The border has never been safer”?
The Obama response to growing public awareness of the realities of border violence was to loudly announce deployment of 1,200 National Guard troops to the border. At the same time, Obama officials quietly assured the Mexican government that the troops would be used only in support and clerical positions and would not be used to interdict smuggling operations.
Against this horrifying real news, the American national media continues to play the pawn to cartel propaganda. For two weeks, border news has been dominated by the shooting of a 15-year-old Mexican by a Border Patrol officer. In no “news” report of this incident is it mentioned that the “child” was a known smuggler or that the rocks thrown at the officers is a tactic used to distract officers away from an area where a smuggling operation is going down.
Sophomoric political appeals for “comprehensive immigration reform” are either ignorant of these facts of life along the border or a deliberate attempt to surrender to the cartels.
Wake up and smell the carnage, America. This ain’t about strawberry pickers’ rights anymore.

Roger Hedgecock is a former mayor of San Diego and  is a nationally-syndicated radio talk host. Visit rogerhedgecock.com