1. Lopez1
Reynaldo Lopez
Mrs. Ann Frake
Eng 112-007
15 October, 2013
Phoenix, The Most Important Corridor
Rodrigo smuggles drugs from Mexico into Arizona and fools police along the way
(Phippen). Paul Babeu a Pinal County, Arizona Sheriff, admits to reporters that he has lost
control of his county to people like Rodrigo and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
has identified 8 major drug traffickers operating along Arizona’s border with Mexico (Phoenix
and DEA). It’s apparent that the transportation and busts of drugs are not randomly distributed.
They follow trends and patterns. One of those patterns is found where drugs tend to arrive and
are distributed from in the U.S. These major drug distribution centers are called corridors and
supported by stats from the U.S. Department of Justice, Phoenix, Arizona was one of the top
corridors, if not the most notorious of them all.
According to the National Drug Threat Assessment produced by the U.S. Department of
Justice in 2010, Phoenix ranks among the top 5 corridors identified as origination points for not
only the ever popular marijuana, but also for cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines. Rodrigo
and a handful of his family members specialize in marijuana, receiving loads of about 400 to 500
pounds at a time with other families mostly take their pick between the four drugs mentioned
above (Phippen).
Rodrigo’s group focuses on the distribution of the drugs they receive from Mexico. If
Rodrigo’s contact, nicknamed Paloma, who the cargo ultimately comes from, needs them to
actually smuggle the drugs into Arizona, they take care of that as well. Then they supply it to

2. Lopez2
their customers who span the entire country. Some states, where Rodrigo’s merchandise
commonly ends up, are Maryland, Michigan, Kentucky and Illinois (Phippen). The National
Drug Threat Assessment states that a couple of top destinations for these four drugs, marijuana,
cocaine, heroin and methamphetamines) are Detroit and Chicago. Not surprisingly, and
following the trend, both are in states that Rodrigo’s group has major business with.
One reason that a lot of smugglers tend to target the same areas is because of the ease that
they have getting their drugs through to distribution centers on the opposite side of those areas.
When they figure out where the easily trespassed areas are, they simply disregard other more
difficult areas and focus on those. The Phoenix Corridor happens to be one very easy gateway to
the U.S. as Rodrigo remembers, “I think they looked at my appearance and probably thought I
didn’t look too foul or something. If I would’ve looked like some foul-a** beaner they probably
would’ve been digging around and s**t. Stupid Gringo policia (Phippen).”
Supporting this impression of Arizona as an easy target, Paul Babeu, Sheriff of Pinal
County, Arizona declared, “We are outgunned, we are outmanned and we don’t have the
resources here locally to fight this.” He also added that President Obama’s promise to station
1,200 troops along the U.S.’s border with Mexico would not be enough to shut the door to the
Phoenix Corridor, “It will fall short. What is truly needed is 3,000 soldiers for Arizona alone,”
(Phoenix).
While some may argue that other states could very well be facing the same problems, the
facts differ. In 2010, 96% of the marijuana confiscated in the U.S. was seized along the Mexican
Border and 50% of the marijuana seized along the border was stopped in Arizona. That would be
the equivalent of 48% of the entire amount confiscated in the whole country (Phippen).

3. Lopez3
The complexity of smuggling gangs like Rodrigo’s also plays a huge role when talking
about the exploitation of corridors. Rodrigo’s contact in Mexico, who Rodrigo calls Paloma,
doesn’t only manage Rodrigo’s group. He has people all over the border working for him. He is
always well-informed of the law enforcement officers’ locations and there is never a shortage of
smugglers at his disposal.
Detective Daniel Romero of the Cochise County, Arizona Sheriff’s Office, who has more
than 20 years of experience in law enforcement, stands atop a hill looking through his binoculars
at a white tarp flapping in the wind on the Mexican side of the border. Near it he sees a lookout
bivouac that he thinks is manned 24 hours a day. Up there, smugglers might be staring right back
at him, watching his every move and communicating by phone or walkie-talkie with their boss,
who could easily be Paloma, and as soon as the detective is gone from sight they sneak across
the border and into Arizona (Phippen). If those smugglers' boss happened to be Paloma, the load
of drugs that they sneaked across the border could very well be headed straight to Rodrigo and
his family. Once again the cycle would repeat itself and Rodrigo’s gang would sell and
distribute their product throughout the United States.
Rodrigo and his group are only one of many that work for Paloma or other traffickers
along the Mexican border, receiving and distributing load after load of marijuana, cocaine,
heroin, or methamphetamines. There are hundreds and hundreds of people using the Phoenix
Corridor daily. Assuming relatively equal coverage along the Mexican border, the 48% of drugs
confiscated in the U.S. that came from Arizona in 2010 should reflect at least an equal
percentage of the drugs being smuggled, in total, including loads confiscated and not confiscated.
The Phoenix Corridor is definitely one of the most serious corridors to watch in the United States
today.

4. Lopez4
Works Cited
DEA. justice.gov.7May 2013. Web.4 October2013.
Phippen,Weston."InsideanArizonaDrugSmugglingGang." ThePhoenix New Times 7 March 2013: 1-
11. Web.
U.S. Departmentof Justice,NationalDrugIntelligence Center.
www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs38/38661/movement.htm.February2010. 7 October2013.