Sheriff's deputies in western Pinal County arrested 14 smugglers and seized 1,382 pounds of marijuana during a five-day anti-smuggling crackdown.
The series of incidents occurred between November 29 and December 3.
All of the cases involved traffic stops, some of which turned into vehicles fleeing from deputies or Border Patrol agents.
In one of the incidents, deputies found two assault-type rifles in the back seat with loaded magazines, according to Pinal County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Mark Clark.
"It would take a task force of monumental proportions to interdict all the drugs that are being smuggled through Pinal County, but our deputies work tirelessly to stop as much of the drug trafficking as possible with our limited resources," Sheriff Paul Babeu said. "More troubling is we are only catching maybe ten percent and it stands to reason, if this many Mexican Cartel smugglers are getting through, the enemies of America can more easily slip in without detection of arrest."
