Mexican cartels for years have stationed scouts on hilltops inside the U.S., acting as spotters for smugglers trying to sneak by the Border Patrol to get drugs or illegal immigrants into the country — and the government has been hard-pressed to find ways to stop them.
Rep. Martha McSally and Sen. John McCain, two Arizona Republicans, think they’ve finally come up with a way.
The two lawmakers on Monday introduced legislation to set a 10-year prison sentence for anyone caught sharing information about Border Patrol movements, or caught destroying border infrastructure.
“Spotters are fundamental to the operation of drug cartels, but there is currently no law that specifically prohibits or penalizes them for assisting drug cartels along the border,” Ms. McSally said in a statement. “By implementing penalties, this bill will prevent experienced spotters who are caught from quickly returning to action and deter many others from joining a criminal cartel operation.”
The scouts are supplied with radios and satellite phones, and often have top-of-the-line night-vision equipment, giving them the ability to monitor authorities’ movements with ease. They alert their cartel bosses where agents are, giving smugglers a chance to detour to another route or to duck out of sight to avoid capture.
Their hilltop camps can be sophisticated, with solar panels to provide a power source for recharging equipment.
Border authorities say manning a camp is considered a plum assignment within the cartels, paying as much as $2,000 a month. They are moved frequently, shifting from hilltop to hilltop as the cartel bosses deem necessary.
“They’re on our mountains. We see them from time to time,” said Jim Chilton, a rancher in Arizona who says his cowboys sometimes encounter them. “They’re generally well-hidden, but they move around mountains.”
Making a criminal case against the scouts can be difficult, because they don’t actually have drugs with them, so the best cases that can be lodged are for criminal conspiracy.
The new bill by Ms. McSally and Mr. McCain seeks to change that.
In addition to punishing the scouts for tracking law enforcement movements, the bill also adds a new federal penalty for carrying a firearm while smuggling illegal immigrants.
“This bill will strengthen consequences for those who jeopardize our residents’ safety so that law enforcement is more equipped to stifle drug cartel operations,” said Mark Dannels, sheriff of Cochise County, which sits along the U.S.-Mexico border in southeastern Arizona. “I’m glad to see efforts being made by our Members of Congress to take spotters out of action for good and improve security along our border.”
Some camps act as supply stations, with dozens of gallons of water cached to refill those packing drugs across the desert. And sometimes the scouts are armed, according to law enforcement agents who have raided camps.
The camps are found along major highways and other key cartel routes as far north as Ironwood Forest National Monument, which is nearly 100 miles inside the border. Some of the hills in the forest command perfect views of Interstate 10, which is the route from Tucson to Phoenix.
The Bush White House, alerted to the problem a decade ago, refused to take action. Senior White House adviser Karl Rove dismissed the threat, scoffing at the idea that there were armed cartel scouts on U.S. soil, according to activists who’ve tracked the issue.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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