Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu says the effects of cross-border smuggling are "far worse" there than in Arizona's border counties, and that's why his county merits $5 million in special border-security funding from the Legislature.
But a county-by-county breakdown of apprehensions and drug seizures carried out by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona suggests an entirely different picture.
More than 95 percent of all apprehensions and pounds of marijuana seized in Arizona from Oct. 1, 2007, through March 17, 2011, have occurred in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties, figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show.
Yuma and Pinal counties each account for just 2 percent of all apprehensions and pounds of marijuana seized over this 3 1/2-year span.
The concentration of arrests and seizures in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties is not surprising considering that the three border counties are in the heart of what has been the busiest drug- and people-smuggling corridor along the U.S.-Mexico border for the last decade.
But it might be surprising to legislators and voters who've heard Babeu's discussion of the droves of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers trekking through his county, located 80 miles from the border.
"It's far worse than Pima County, Cochise County or Santa Cruz County," Babeu said in an interview this month. The Border Patrol, he said, "are the ones who've said that all roads lead to Pinal County."
Elected in November 2008, Babeu has earned nationwide recognition as a border-security hawk, criticizing the Obama administration while calling for more troops and fences on the border.
He often calls Pinal County "the No. 1 pass-through county for drug- and human-smuggling in America."
To demonstrate, he cites department figures showing a surge in vehicle pursuits, marijuana seizures and calls to the Border Patrol in the last two to three years. His spokesman, Tim Gaffney, says these metrics are greater in Pinal County than the Arizona border counties but does not provide statistics to back that.
The $5M question: Babeu vs. the stats
But a county-by-county breakdown of apprehensions and drug seizures carried out by the U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona suggests an entirely different picture.
More than 95 percent of all apprehensions and pounds of marijuana seized in Arizona from Oct. 1, 2007, through March 17, 2011, have occurred in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties, figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection show.
Yuma and Pinal counties each account for just 2 percent of all apprehensions and pounds of marijuana seized over this 3 1/2-year span.
The concentration of arrests and seizures in Pima, Santa Cruz and Cochise counties is not surprising considering that the three border counties are in the heart of what has been the busiest drug- and people-smuggling corridor along the U.S.-Mexico border for the last decade.
But it might be surprising to legislators and voters who've heard Babeu's discussion of the droves of illegal immigrants and drug smugglers trekking through his county, located 80 miles from the border.
"It's far worse than Pima County, Cochise County or Santa Cruz County," Babeu said in an interview this month. The Border Patrol, he said, "are the ones who've said that all roads lead to Pinal County."
Elected in November 2008, Babeu has earned nationwide recognition as a border-security hawk, criticizing the Obama administration while calling for more troops and fences on the border.
He often calls Pinal County "the No. 1 pass-through county for drug- and human-smuggling in America."
To demonstrate, he cites department figures showing a surge in vehicle pursuits, marijuana seizures and calls to the Border Patrol in the last two to three years. His spokesman, Tim Gaffney, says these metrics are greater in Pinal County than the Arizona border counties but does not provide statistics to back that.
The $5M question: Babeu vs. the stats