Officials and locals in Yuma, Arizona, said the Mexican cartel: smuggling drugs and people Immigrants to the United States effectively control the southern border, with one person describing the situation as “a time bomb like a time bomb.”
Cartels, which charge as much as $20,000 each to help migrants sneak into the United States, have used the ongoing surge in illegal immigration to overwhelm Border Patrol agents in their lucrative human trafficking operations. I’m here. Jonathan Lines told Fox News.
“This is not a political discussion,” Lines said. “This is a matter of national security.”
“Unless this situation changes and we regain control from the cartels, the situation will only get worse as people are trafficked across borders,” he added.
“There are a lot of people who don’t like the United States for some reason, and a lot of people who want to come in and do some damage,” Yuma farmer Alex Mueller told Fox News. Said.. “It’s like a time bomb.”
Migrants who cannot afford the hefty smuggling fees often offer to bring in drugs to pay off their debts.
is more than Recorded 2.7 million encounters In fiscal year 2022, Fox News reported immigration transit in the Yuma sector increased 171% between 2021 and 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Cartel profits jumped from $500 million in 2018 to an estimated $13 billion in 2022. The New York Times reportedciting Homeland Security Investigations, a federal agency that specializes in stopping human trafficking.
“The whole world is crossing borders and these are the people who want to get caught,” Muller said. “There are a lot of people who don’t want to get caught.”
“Where are they going and who is supporting them?” he added. “That’s scary.”
Farmers in Yuma said the cartels have ramped up their activity since the start of the Biden administration in 2021.
“Borders are not 100% safe,” he told Fox News. “It’s wide open.”
“What is happening now is 100% dangerous,” Muller continued. “It’s been like this for the past two and a half years, so I’m pretty sure it might be too late.”
