SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — According to US Customs and Border Protections, 1,100 pounds of fentanyl was seized in the Tucson Sector, in 2024. Governor Katie Hobbs’ new executive order aims to decrease the amount of human and drug smuggling from the southern border with a new task force, dubbed Operation Desert Guardian.
The announcement about the executive order says: "Executive Order 2025-01 directing the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to create a joint task force." Cochise County was listed in the announcement as one of the four border communities that will be covered.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels says he wasn't aware of the new task force.
"We're hoping that it complements what we're already doing down here, but again, I don't know. I have not seen an operational plan,” he said.
According to the announcement: "Operation Desert Guardian will seek to partner with local law enforcement, sheriffs, and the federal government to disrupt Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) operations within Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties."
Dannels says the effort will need to be a statewide effort, not just the four counties.
"At the end of the day, all 15 counties have to work together on this, along with our state, along with our federal partners, if we're going to do this right,” he said.
Details are limited, but Dannels says there's lots of questions that need to be answered. He's asking: “What's the cost to my agency?; What's it going to mean for resources? What are they going to take care of that I don't already have?”
Dannels says he doesn’t have extra money in his budget to cover any resources the governor wants to put in place, so state funding would be needed to help execute Hobbs' plan.
"We don't have a budget that supports that." Dannels said. "My budgets are already fulfilled. They're maximized. And so if there are expectations that my office will be doing something without the budget, chances are we won't do it... I can't do it.”
In her announcement, Hobbs said in part: "My administration has been in contact with the federal government and local sheriffs about the operation, its critical objectives, and our shared commitment to keeping criminals and drugs out of Arizona’s communities."
This task force wouldn’t be the first time local law enforcement worked together.
“I'm anxious to do it. I'm willing to do it," Dannels said. "I just want to make sure that we have the resources where I can tell my citizens that this is not costing them anything, but we're also saving lives.
"When local, state and federal work together, we all win. Criminals lose. We win.”
Dannels and his team are meeting with the governor and her staff on Monday to discuss more specific details.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
