PHOENIX — Governor Katie Hobbs has signed an executive order creating a joint task force called Operation Desert Guardian. The order directs the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the Arizona Department of Public Safety, and the Arizona Department of Homeland Security to expand border security operations in the state's four border counties: Yuma, Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise counties.
Operation Desert Guardian seeks to work with local law enforcement, sheriff's offices, and the federal government to disrupt Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) operations within those four counties, according to a statement from Gov. Hobbs.
“I’m proud to launch Operation Desert Guardian to combat the cartels, stop drug smuggling and human trafficking, and secure Arizona’s border,” said Gov. Hobbs. “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. I have worked productively with the federal government on Task Force SAFE and partnered with local law enforcement to deliver critical border security support, and I look forward to continued partnership on our shared border security priorities. With Operation Desert Guardian, I’m confident we can take an important next step in our ongoing work to secure the border.”
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Hobbs adds the objective of the operation includes identifying and mitigating security vulnerabilities along the border and fighting border-related crimes by dismantling crime organizations' supply chains and operating networks.
The efforts are being funded by leveraging a portion of the $28 million balance in the State's Border Security Fund, according to Hobbs.
Operation Desert Guardian will build on the efforts of Task Force SAFE, which is a joint operation between the Arizona National Guard and U.S. Customs and Border Protection to interdict drugs at Arizona's ports of entry. Hobbs says, so far, SAFE has stopped more than 19 million fentanyl pills, 6,598 pounds of other illicit drugs, and 237 weapons from crossing the border.
Read the full executive order below
