Arizona AG touts anti-smuggling efforts

PHOENIX, March 24 (UPI) -- A new era of cooperation between U.S. and Mexican authorities will target cross-border smuggling and money-laundering operations, Legal Newsline reported.

Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard said when western state attorneys general and Mexican authorities met this month it marked a turning point in the wars against drugs and human trafficking.

"I can't say enough about what a big step forward this was," Goddard said.

He told the legal news service as many as 1 million illegal immigrants each pay about $2,500 to human smugglers, known as coyotes, to get into the United States annually.

"The cartels, we believe, are profiting immensely from the human smuggling activities," he said. "Transporting human beings is even profitable and less risky than transporting drugs."

As a result, he said, coyote gangs on both sides of the border are fighting over smuggling routes and so-called drop-houses, where illegal immigrants are taken once brought into the United States.

Goddard said with the improved cooperation the U.S.-Mexico border will "cease to be a refuge" for criminals who escape one way or another.

"This has implications for both countries that are very positive," he said.