Organ Pipe Crime Blotter

2005 was a pretty nasty year at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
Not only did rangers there seize nearly 17,000 pounds of marijuana from smugglers, but they also arrested 104 Mexican nationals and four U.S. citizens for marijuana possession with intent to sell. And in the process of making those arrests, the rangers seized an array of knives and pistols.
The blotter gets deeper. Rangers also arrested 908 undocumented aliens and their guides.
All this law enforcement work was conducted by an Organ Pipe Cactus ranger staff that was hamstrung by two vacancies and a third ranger deployed overseas.

Finally, all this drug running and illegal alien traffic resulted in the creation of roughly 200 miles of illegal roads and another 1,000 miles of illegal trails.
If anyone has any connections at Homeland Security, could you please ask them to give the Park Service a hand with this ongoing problem.

(NPS photo)