Officers of the Border Crimes Interdiction Team (BCIT) are assigned in Pinal County as well as in Cochise, Pima and Santa Cruz counties under the auspices of the Arizona Department of Public Safety.
Formed a year ago in September 2007, the BCIT is a partnership between the Department of Public Safety’s Canine Unit and the Gang & Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission (G.II.T.E.M.).
BCIT was formed in response to various felony crimes committed on the U.S.-Arizona border.
Comprised of experienced officers and canine handlers, the unit’s focus is to deter and disrupt drug trafficking, human smuggling, and vehicle theft organizations that operate along the international border.
In its first year members of the BCIT unit have accomplished the following:
Seizures:
Marijuana-8,150 pounds
Methamphetamine-2.3 pounds
Cash-$192,516
Stolen vehicles-67
Undocumented aliens to U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement-820
Arrests-182
“BCIT officers work daily to disrupt and dismantle the human smuggling and drug smuggling organizations by stopping them before they make it into our communities. By disrupting the work of these criminal organizations, BCIT officers are helping to make the communities of Arizona safer places to live. I envision expanding this team to cover all the southern Arizona counties to continue to fight against crimes that are committed along the border,” said the unit’s commander Lieutenant J. Leos.
For further information on the Border Crimes Interdiction Team, contact Leos at (602) 223-2047
or via email.
File photo
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