The Immigration and Customs Enforcement air and marine operations division is preparing to open its first new office in Bellingham, Wash., on September 1.  The second office, located in Plattsburgh, N.Y., and three additional sites on the Canadian border will staff 28 officers at each location.   

Due to the increase in documented illegal flights in the Northwest, terrorist threats, and increased drug traffic, Congress has recognized the need for enhanced security on the northern border region. The military division will be responsible for patrolling a region that covers about 3,000 square miles, including a 15-mile radius of restricted airspace over Washington. 

To assist with patrols, the division added two Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop planes, at a cost of $6.6 million each, to start replacing the fleet of 130 aging Cessna C-12’s.  According to Charles Stallworth, division director, the PC-12 will replace the C-12 starting with the opening of the Bellingham branch.  During the past 22 months, the homeland security agency has reduced the number of unauthorized intrusions in the restricted zone from 180 to 30.

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An Arizona prison guard admitted involvement in an alien smuggling organization and is currently in federal custody, according to federal court records.  The Department of Corrections officer was stopped by U.S. Border patrol agents and had three undocumented immigrants with him.  He later admitted to his involvement with a smuggling organization and that he kept undocumented immigrants at his home for a charge.  While one of the passengers was returned to his native Mexico, the other two are being held as witnesses.

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According to the Arizona Range News, U.S. Border Patrol agents have seized 458 vehicles since the beginning of 2004 in order to deter drug smuggling and the influx of undocumented immigrants.  Border Patrol officials seize all vehicles that contain undocumented immigrants or drugs and auction them off.  All profits are turned over to the federal government.

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Increased enforcement efforts in southern Arizona are resulting in more occurrences of smuggling-related violence such as kidnapping, torturing and abandonment of illegal immigrants.  While Phoenix has been successful in reducing such violence, the surrounding areas are experiencing a marked increase. 

Last weekend in Tucson, smugglers held an illegal immigrant hostage while they attempted to extort money from his family in Mexico; last week near Wickenburg, 114 immigrants who were abandoned by their smugglers were found who had gone several days without food.  In Nogales, smugglers are using the new tactic of leasing car-and-phony-document packages to people who use them to get into the U.S., allowing the smugglers to be uninvolved at the port of entry.