SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — "I don't need another task force," said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos.
Last week, Governor Katie Hobbs announced an executive order, creating a task force to prevent human and drug smuggling from the southern border. Cochise County was mentioned as a partnering agency, but Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, was unaware of specific details when it came to Operation Desert Guardian. On Monday, members of the Cochise County Sheriff's Office and other people participating in this task force met, but there are still questions about what the specific task force will do.
"This is the conversation, you have to have a conversation,” said Commander for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office, Bob Watkins.
Watkins and Nanos were both on Monday's meeting. Nanos says the invitation to the meeting was the first time he heard of this new task force.
"To take state funding and put it on that border, a federal agency’s responsibility, makes no sense to me. Not when you have needs here locally,” he said.
Hobbs' team didn't share many details about the operations or the plans for this new task force.
"They want to bring intelligence resources and interdiction efforts to combat drug and human trafficking efforts throughout the state of Arizona,” Watkins said.
He says since January of 2023 more than 980 pounds of fentanyl have been seized in Cochise County.
"Cochise County is very much the epicenter of fentanyl smuggling throughout the entire state, but we're kind of a transitory county where the fentanyl is coming from Mexico, through our county to Phoenix,” Watkins said. “I think the crisis alone is too big for any agency to combat, especially given that every specific region has their own problems. Some resources are sparse in some areas of the state.”
Nanos says he didn't stay on the virtual meeting very long, because he doesn't see the need for another task force. He says his office is already on a number of state and federal task forces, designed to stop drug smuggling.
"We have our own unique problems here in Pima County, just as Cochise County has their unique problems,” Nanos said.
He says he'd like to focus on the high number of violent crimes and homicides in Pima County— something he would have told the Governor.
"It really is about listening to your local authorities, your local sheriffs, sitting down with them, and hearing from them what their needs are because I do think we have some needs, and I do think that the state can help us with it,” Nanos said.
Watkins says this operation is still in the planning phases and all parties will continue to meet weekly. Dannels says he's still waiting for an operations plan to be shared with him.
“The bottom line is, as we move into this operation, I can see the need for it," he said. "It's just how we get down the road together. And like I said every sheriff has his own independent challenges. So let's work with the four different challenges on the border, and let's share that.”
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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.
