Armed Invaders on U'S' Soil

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Armed Invaderson U.S. Soil
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Mexican drug- and human-smuggling cartels
have set up and manned what the U.S. military
calls listening posts/observation posts
(LP/OPs) on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico
border to help smug-glers evade U.S. law
enforcement officers. This presentation
focuses only on Arizona, where NumbersUSA staff
toured some of these LP/OPs with federal agents.
We were told that the cartels also occupy LP/OPs
throughout southern Texas, New Mexico, and
California.
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• Five federal agencies independently confirmed the
  presence of armed, military- or police-trained,
  illegal aliens at LP/OPs on hilltops throughout
  southern Arizona, up to 200 miles north of the
  border. They function as lookouts to warn drug
  and alien smugglers of approaching U.S. law
  enforcement to ensure safe passage of the
  shipment. They are paid by Mexican cartels for
  each vehicle that they successfully guide past
  their position.
• The federal agencies that confirmed their
  presence are
• Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• Fish Wildlife Service (FWS)
• Forest Service
• National Park Service (NPS) and
• Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

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Federally Owned Land in Southern Arizona
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Mexican look-outs enter the United States
illegally and take up positions on strategic
highpoints from the Arizona-Mexico border to
Phoenix and beyondup to 200 miles north of the
border.
The hilltop marked in this photo, currently
occupied by look-outs, is about 25 miles north of
the border, near Sells, AZ.
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Spotters usually occupy a hilltop in pairs.
Trained by the Mexican military or police, they
are armed, often with AK-47s.
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The hill in this photograph is just northwest of
Freeman, AZ, which is about 70 miles north of the
border. Our guide is a heavily armed BLM Ranger.
NumbersUSA, January 2007
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When they arrive at their assigned hilltop, the
look-outs clear off a small area where they have
the best view of the roads below.
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They generally pile rocks around the front of the
clearing to shield them from the view of anyone
below.
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They may build several LP/OPs on different areas
of the same hilltop so they can avoid the sun in
the hottest part of the day.
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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Branches are used to camouflage unoccupied LP/OPs
so they cannot be seen by aircraft.
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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The look-outs carry enough food and drink to last
for two weeks or so, after which, they are
re-supplied by other cartel employees from
Mexico. Trash may be stashed under a nearby
shrub to conceal it from aerial view.
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To help pass the timeand to keep them awake
through the night many look-outs use illegal
drugs, including crystal meth, cocaine, and
marijuana. This photo shows a can that a spotter
has con-verted into a pipe.
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They position themselves so they can watch long
stretches of roads and warn smugglers of
approaching Border Patrol or law enforcement
officers.
They are equipped with solar-powered battery
packs to run communications equipment that is
more sophisticated than the Border Patrols.
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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NumbersUSA, January 2007
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So how many of these LP/OPs are there in Arizona?
No one knows for sure, but heres what five
Federal law enforcement agencies have come up
with . . .
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This map covers only about one-third of the
Arizona-Mexico border and less than 10 percent of
the U.S.-Mexico border.
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The numbers on this document indicate the GPS
coordinates of some of the occupied LP/OPs, as
recorded by Customs and Border Protection.
Although they have documented their locations,
CBP has not taken action to remove these
look-outs because they do not consider it a
priority.
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For more information, contact Rosemary
Jenks Director of Government Relations NumbersUSA
[phone] www.numbersusa.com