Just as the drug- and human-smuggling cartels increasingly control the government of Mexico, residents of Yuma, Arizona, are saying the cartels are now in effective control of the northern side of the border as well.
Fox News talked with Yuma officials and residents, who agreed that the open border near their city has become a crisis in national security.
Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines said, “This is not a political discussion. This is a national security issue. Unless this situation changes and we take back control from the cartels, for the trafficking coming across our border, it will only get worse.”
The cartels have skillfully combined their twin smuggling operations by pressing would-be “asylum seekers” into service as drug mules to pay off their debts. A virtual welcome mat has been placed along the border by the Biden administration, attracting illegal migrants from around the world. Many cannot pay the exorbitant fees to be smuggled across (ranging from $4,000 to $20,000) and so pay their way by bringing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs with them. This has drastically increased the gangs’ revenues. Fox News reports:
Meanwhile, human smuggling operations’ profits have skyrocketed in recent years. According to Homeland Security Investigations, the industry raked in $13 billion as of July — up from $500 million in 2018. And CBP seized 15,000 pounds of fentanyl along the southern border in 2022 — a 206% increase since 2020.
At the same time, the numbers of illegals crossing into the U.S. have shot up as well. Migrant “encounters” increased from 480,000 in 2020 to 2.3 million last year. In Yuma, migrant crossings increased by 171% between 2021 and 2022.
“The whole world is crossing the border,” declared one local farmer. “It’s just like a ticking time bomb.”
In actuality, that bomb is no longer merely ticking. It’s going off before our eyes.
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