Busy Week in Ariz. Brings CBP 3,000 Arrests, $17M in Drugs Seized

Tucson, Ariz. — The U.S. Customs and Border Protection Joint Field Command logged nearly 3,000 arrests with $17 million in narcotics and close to $230,000 in currency seized for the week of Feb. 14 - 20.

The seizures consisted of more than 24,000 pounds of marijuana, close to 60 pounds of methamphetamines, more than 10 pounds of cocaine, a little more than two pounds of heroin, and 37 vehicles that were used for illicit purposes. The $230,000 in illegal proceeds was intercepted during outbound operations at the ports.

During the week, nearly 600 of those apprehended were criminally prosecuted.

Earlier this month, CBP announced the Arizona Joint Field Command, an organizational realignment that brings together Border Patrol, Air and Marine, and Field Operations under a unified command structure to integrate CBP’s border security, commercial enforcement, and trade facilitation missions to more effectively meet the unique challenges faced in the Arizona area of operations.

Since launching the Southwest Border Initiative in March 2009, the Department of Homeland Security under Secretary Janet Napolitano has engaged in an unprecedented effort to bring focus and intensity to Southwest border security, coupled with a reinvigorated, smart and effective approach to enforcing immigration laws in the interior of our country.

The Joint Field Command (JFC) integrates the combined assets of the Tucson and Yuma Border Patrol Sectors, the Office of Field Operations Tucson Field Office, and the Office of Air and Marine’s Tucson and Yuma Air Branches, enabling CBP leadership in the Arizona area of operations to direct an integrated approach to our mission of border security, commercial enforcement and trade facilitation.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.