Sheriff's Department finds illegal aliens

By Jon Johnson, Assistant Editor
Published on Friday, March 30, 2007 2:36 PM MST

If a person was to make the unwise choice to become a human smuggler, that person should probably follow basic traffic laws during the commission of their crime.

Graham County Deputy Eric Mayhew pulled over a white Dodge pickup for following the vehicle in front of it too closely on Monday and quickly discovered 19 undocumented aliens stashed throughout the vehicle.

Mayhew called for backup and was assisted by Graham County Detective Mike Wear as well as officers from the Safford Police Department.

Ten illegal aliens were crammed into the truck, piled up in the extended cab portion and nine more were hiding under a carpet in the rear pickup bed. All were taken to the Graham County Jail for holding until the Border Patrol took custody. The truck, registered to Ricardo Rascon of Tucson, was impounded at the county yard.

Graham County Sheriff Frank Hughes said a lot of times the vehicles are purchased and its registration will not be renewed by the smugglers.

Hughes said the Valley was seeing more and more loads of illegal immigrants and drugs making their way through.

"Safford is on one of the routes they like to take," he said. "There are major highways heading north, south, east and west."

He said the Sheriff's Department was being especially vigil in its attempts to thwart the problem, which is growing increasingly dangerous.

"The people transporting the illegal immigrants are much more violent than before," Hughes said. "We are taking action to stop this scourge."

Comments

10 comment(s)

    Ian Mccartney wrote on Sep 17, 2008 4:20 PM:

    " I went to this camp in the summer of 05 when they were located in concho. I highly doubt that vallentine is telling the truth because when i went they was plenty of food. I remeber that they made us but on spf 50 sunscreen by the gallons. They provided us with gallons of water a day. I think that denton should have stayed in concho because it was a lot better. Big deal the recruits have no ac or water. what to expect bootcamp to be a vaction? And by the way the dirt isnt going to kill you "

    H. Craig Bradley wrote on Apr 18, 2008 5:29 PM:

    " The percentage of Americans who recreate in the wild outdoors of our National Forests is shrinking all the time. Today's America is predominately an urban/suburban America. Increasingly, individuals can not part with their IPods, Cell Phones, Laptop Computers and Navigational Aides (GPS). Roughing it outdoors is an experience that fewer and fewer individuals are getting "

    Anonymous wrote on Apr 3, 2008 5:06 PM:

    " Why not tell these people and organizations how you feel?

    Vice Principal Kerry Wilson
    Principal Robert Beeman
    Superintendent Mark Tregaskes
    Safford, Arizona Middle School

    734 11Th Street
    Safford, AZ 85546
    Phone Number: (928) 348-7040

    http://az.localschooldirectory.com/schools_info.php/school_id/3495 "

    THS Alum 2004 wrote on Mar 20, 2008 4:21 PM:

    " I graduated with these guys and it's sad to say that I'm really not that surprised. They're meat heads and are a "few fries short of a happy meal". The authorities did nothing wrong, these people made a dumb choice and will have to deal with the consequences.

    P.S. Doug did it. "

    blah wrote on Mar 6, 2008 8:29 AM:

    " Whatever "

    colton wrote on Jan 29, 2008 2:02 PM:

    " i think doug grant is innocent an i think you should not charge him for murder "

    saline wrote on Jan 29, 2008 2:01 PM:

    " hello hello hello hello hello hello "

    Michael Jackson wrote on Dec 11, 2007 3:02 PM:

    " Why doesn't this newspaper admit that the story reported by Pam Crandall, as related by Jesse MacBeth, in the above article, is a flat out lie??? MacBeth has since admitted that he did not go to Iraq and that he made up all of the stories repeated by Pam Crandall. Please tell the truth. The longer that the Courier stands by these lies the sillier it looks. "

    Jesu Christ! wrote on Oct 25, 2007 8:53 PM:

    " And the authorities wonder why it is that students have so little respect for authority. If I were this kid (or the kid's mother) I would never look at authority the same way again. "

    Daniel Connell wrote on Oct 23, 2007 9:35 AM:

    " i am writting to say that this was a harmless prank and just a little fun for these two innocent teenagers. they should have not gotten in that much trouble for just a harmless prank. being a friend to them you wouldnt see it in my view. they were just looking to have fun in safford because there is nothing else to do and jose hernandez should have not been sent to ADJC on his first crime he ever commited. "

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