BLM Ridealong
03 MAY 2012 - VEKOL VALLEY, RURAL PINAL COUNTY, AZ: Vehicle barriers on Bureau of Land Management land south of Interstate 8 and west of Casa Grande in rural Pinal County. The area has been a hotbed of illegal immigrant and drug smuggling for years. The BLM has undertaken a series of "surges" in the area, increasing their law enforcement patrols and partnering with Border Patrol and Pinal County Sheriff's Department officers to reduce criminal activity in the area. The BLM put in the vehicle barriers to stop immigrant and drug smugglers who were driving through the desert to reach Phoenix. Young said the barriers seemed to have worked because the number of vehicles recovered from the area is down substantially. PHOTO BY JACK KURTZ
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