As drug gangs use some parts of the southern border to bring illegal drugs into the U.S., NewsNation got a first look at how Border Patrol agents are dealing with the issue.
NewsNation went on a ride-along with Gregory Bovino, who is the head of the Border Patrol in El Centro, California. The ride-along started with a plan for how to deal with a U.S. citizen and two possible guides from Mexico who were trying to sneak an immigrant across the border.
Bovino said, “It can happen more than once a day. Even when it’s 118 degrees outside, they’ll cross the border and load up like you saw today.”
At the country’s biggest checkpoint for hard drugs, people are smuggled in, but every day drugs are also found. Most of the time, drugs that get through the El Centro port and the checks end up in American homes and hands.
In El Centro, cameras caught a load of fentanyl, but local agents weren’t able to get there in time. So, they called Arizona officials and the Tucson area. 120 pounds of fentanyl were taken off the streets by the operation.
Now, Bovino is taking the fight to the streets with Central Violations Bureau tickets. These tickets let police charge people with almost any crime, even using fentanyl. Instead of being in charge of stopping people and drugs from coming into the country, this would give power straight to local police.
Local police say that California law SB54 is stopping them from fully stopping drugs and people smuggling along the border for now. The law says that local police officers can’t answer or cite anything linked to immigration. Cartel groups are taking advantage of this fact.
“We have no idea how many people are getting away with this.” I wish there was a way to keep track, but we can’t. Under California law, you can’t do that unless you break the law, which we’re not going to do. “That’s why we need to stick to our rules,” Brawley Police Chief Jimmy Duran told NewsNation.
In other border areas, local, state, and federal police work together to stop drug traffic. This is very different from what is happening here.
Sherriff Fred Miramontes of Imperial County, California, said, “Taking away that collaboration makes you feel down as a law enforcement agency because you’re trying to do your job and keep people safe, and it’s just discouraging sometimes.”
