Border Incidents and Operations

In the interest of operational security, the park no longer routinely submits incident reports for high profile incidents. The following is a summary of border related incidents for 2005: Rangers conducted over 5,800 man hours of interdiction operations, resulting in the seizure of just under 17,000 pounds of marijuana being smuggled through the park by vehicle and on foot.  One hundred and four Mexican nationals and four United States Citizens were arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. These arrests also netted pistols, knives, ammunition, radios and cellular phones. An additional 908 undocumented aliens and their guides were apprehended. Five stolen vehicles were recovered.  Many of these operations were conducted as Interagency Border Anti-Narcotic Network Task Force operations under the direction of the ranger staff. Over 25 of these felony level cases are still awaiting trial, with numerous suspects associated with each case. Organ Pipe rangers have been able to maintain their high intensity drug interdiction patrols despite two vacancies and one ranger deployed overseas.  Throughout the year, Organ Pipe detailed rangers in for special operations who provided invaluable assistance in these cases. Participating parks were Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Mount Rainier, North Cascades, Great Smokies, Shenandoah, Point Reyes, Padre Island, glen Canyon, Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Little River, Saguaro, Western Alaska Areas, Amistad, Arches and Canyonlands. The effects of these illegal activities continue to threaten park visitors and resources, with over 200 miles of illegal roads and 1,000 miles of illegal trails having been created.  The final phase of construction of the vehicle barrier continues. Two thirds of the park boundary is completed, with final project completion projected for this coming October.