Drug Cartels and border violence, do they affect Vernon County?

Last weekend I was invited to attend a Sheriff's Border Summit for a security briefing on the Mexican border and how it is affecting every county around the nation.

Sheriffs from all over the country attended the briefing, which included speakers who work for various federal, state, and county agencies relating to border security, as well as drug and human trafficking issues.

We were also given a tour of the U.S./Mexican border from El Paso to Hudspeth County, Texas. Hudspeth County has over 90 miles of U.S./Mexican border with only four miles of fence that separate the two. Because most of the population is in neighboring El Paso County, Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office is left to patrol the border with little help from anyone else. In fact, the entire time we were on the border, we saw no law enforcement except for the deputies who were escorting us.

Hudspeth County has a small population of less than 3,500 people and yet has nearly 4,500 square miles to patrol, including the 90 plus miles of the U.S. border. While talking with some of the deputies, we learned that it is normal for them to seize thousands and thousands of pounds of drugs each year just in their county. They also said this amount was estimated to be around 5 percent of what is coming across their border.

Another fact we found almost mind blowing, is that nearly 8,000 semi trucks cross the border each day from Mexico, and only 40-50 of them are searched. During the briefing we were told they estimate the cartels make anywhere between $80-180 billion per year from the U.S.

We were also briefed on the violence and corruption that is going on in Mexico and slowly spilling over into cities all over the country. Three of the major drug cartels, Los Zetas, Gulf Cartel, and La Familia, are believed to have members or affiliates in nearly every major city, and they are actively trying to transition from wholesaling drugs to other groups in the country to selling their product right on the streets of the U.S. without going through anyone else.

Over the last few years, the number of meth labs we find is becoming more and more rare, and the crystal meth coming from larger cities like Kansas City is becoming the norm. The quality of the meth is higher and the retail price is greater. In fact, not long ago, we received lab results on some meth that was more than 90 percent pure.

One of the larger seizures we made just a few weeks ago was a quality that could not have been produced in a local lab. It is very likely that a majority of the crystal meth we see today is manufactured and brought in from Mexico to places like Kansas City, where it is bought and then sold on our streets right here in Vernon County.

I believe that America is still the land of opportunity and I do not blame anyone for wanting to come here, but I do believe there should be a clear and legal way for people to come into this country and under no circumstances should anyone be allowed to enter illegally.

What if a terrorist decided to drive a weapon right across our border because no one was watching? Sheriff Arvin West (a border sheriff) said, "We must secure our borders now, or every sheriff will become a border sheriff."