Posted on 10/18/2002 3:32:21 PM PDT by libertylass
Thursday, October 17, 2002
By Tim Steller ARIZONA DAILY STAR
LOCHIEL, Ariz. - Members of an armed citizens patrol seized about 280 pounds of marijuana Tuesday and Wednesday from smugglers crossing a ranch owned by The Nature Conservancy.
About 13 volunteers for the group, called Ranch Rescue, http://www.ranchrescue.com/ have been working near Lochiel since Saturday in their first mission aimed at surveillance, rather than cleanups at border-area ranches.
An official of The Nature Conservancy said Wednesday night the group was unaware Ranch Rescue members had been operating on the San Antonio Ranch, about 65 miles south of Tucson. Tom Collazo, the director of conservation for the conservancy's Arizona branch, said the ranch manager would ask the group to stop today.
Jack Foote, the spokesman for Ranch Rescue, said the group received permission to conduct surveillance there from a ranch manager. Armed with that permission and semi-automatic rifles, the camouflage-clad members built a hide-out near a foot-trail across the ranch Tuesday evening.
Only about 15 minutes passed before smugglers trooped up the trail bearing bundles on their backs, Foote said. The Ranch Rescue members stepped out and told the smugglers "Alto!" - "halt" in Spanish.
"They dropped their packs and ran off," Foote said. A similar incident occurred about nine hours later at 3 a.m. Wednesday, Foote said. He called members of the news media Wednesday morning so they could document the event, then reported it to law enforcement.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Deputy Ruben Laredo picked up the 13 bundles of burlap-wrapped marijuana about 2 p.m. Wednesday.
For Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada, the drug seizures were an unexpected twist to a situation he had been following because of its dangerous potential. Estrada's primary concern, since he learned of the Ranch Rescue operation, has been what might happen if members encountered typical border-crossers and tried to arrest them.
What they did find still worries him.
"The concern is that these individuals, as well-meaning as they may be, could cause a major problem down there," Estrada said. "They don't have the training or the authority to be intercepting loads down there. That's better suited for law enforcement."
Estrada questioned the approximately 18-hour lapse between the time the smugglers dropped the initial load and the time the Sheriff's Department was notified. He also questioned why Ranch Rescue members moved the bundles from the spots they were dropped to a place near the ranch house.
"Obviously they wanted the impact of this particular event to reflect favorably on their presence, and they wanted the media there before we got there," Estrada said. "It could have been handled much better."
Ranch Rescue formed in 2000 when Foote, of Abilene, Texas, was inspired by news accounts of Cochise County rancher and businessman Roger Barnett. For years, Barnett and family members have patrolled their ranch east of Douglas, sometimes detaining illegal border crossers.
Until now, the group's operations have focused on helping ranchers fix fences and clean up trash, though they generally worked well-armed and wearing uniforms. This is the first time the group has mounted an operation focused on surveillance, Foote said.
He said the volunteers working at the ranch near Lochiel are from other states, but Arizona members helped set up the mission, dubbed "Operation Hawk."
Foote declined to identify the ranch manager who gave Ranch Rescue permission to conduct its operation on the property. He also declined to name the ranch. But a street sign and the Sheriff's Department identified the place as the San Antonio Ranch, purchased almost two years ago by The Nature Conservancy's Arizona branch.
News of the presence of heavily armed civilians on the ranch came as a shock to Collazo, the conservancy official. After learning of the situation from a reporter, Collazo contacted the ranch's manager and found out their presence resulted from a mix-up.
"He said he was contacted by this group, but he did not give them permission to camp on the property. He said he thought it was the Border Patrol," Collazo said.
"We're willing to cooperate with the authorities, but we haven't authorized this group to conduct any operations on this property," he said.
Among the men at the property Wednesday was Rob Krott, who said he is a former member of the U.S. Army Special Forces and is the chief foreign correspondent of Soldier of Fortune magazine.
Krott, an AR-15 slung over his shoulder and a sidearm holstered on his hip, reeled off stories of traveling to Afghanistan, Somalia, and other world hot spots, as a soldier and on his own. Krott said he initially contacted Ranch Rescue with the idea of writing a story about the group.
Then he decided to join Operation Hawk and bring his own "tactical team" - ex-military friends he trusts. Part of the motivation, he acknowledged, is adventure, but he said he also believes in the group's property-rights message.
"We're not the problem here. We've broken no laws. We intend to break no laws," Krott said. "We're carrying legal firearms, for our personal protection, in accordance with Arizona law."
* Contact reporter Tim Steller at 434-4086 or at steller@azstarnet.com.
I have seen the men in action and they are very level-headed and self-disciplined. They would run rings around the local law enforcement when it comes to patrols, detention, and calm clear-headed control of any possible situation that may arise. They obviously handed themselves appropriately in this situation.
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Hmmmmmmm.......what did the Nature Conservancy know and when did they know it?? If it were anyone else's land, the Feds would likely seize it!
Just wondering, who owned the property where the busts actually occurred? The "adjacent property" designation is a little confusing.
"" Posted on 03/29/2003 3:43 AM CST by kattracks
WASHINGTON - An Iraqi terror team armed with millions of dollars tried to get smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico to Crawford, Tex. - the site of President Bush's ranch, a law enforcement source said yesterday. The alarming attempt to infiltrate the country occurred this month, the source said. ""
I wonder.... just where did they try to cross?
How did the local sheriff and BP employees vote a few years ago?
Were they equipped with "professional backpacks" and walking together in a military cadence?
Will the Texas Rangers arrest everyone known to have eaten at Dary Queen on the morning after the attempted border crossing?
WHAT DID THE SHERIFF KNOW AND WHEN DID HE KNOW IT ? < / idiotic >
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