Sheriff Jeff Richards of Franklin County, Kansas, recently expressed his concerns to the Federal Newswire about the escalating issues related to illegal human and drug trafficking operations. He attributed these problems primarily to insufficient law enforcement at the southern border. Richards is a member of the Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executives' Association.
Richards, who has more than 34 years of law enforcement experience and is an Air Force veteran, stated: "Cartels make more money in trafficking people than they do in trafficking substances." His service includes a decade as Franklin County sheriff and a tenure on the Human Trafficking Advisory Board for the Kansas attorney general. He also serves on both the National Sheriffs Border Security Committee and the National Sheriffs Homeland Security Committee.
In his interview with Federal Newswire, Richards shared insights from his extensive experience dealing with cartels and criminal organizations involved in drug and human trafficking. "Most of the drugs being seized/recovered in our area can be linked back (through lab results) to cartels, south of the border," he said. According to Richards, his local community has also observed cartel-operated human smuggling activities, predominantly labor-related.
The sheriff pointed to an "open southern border" as a contributing factor to the increase in illegal immigrants. He criticized what he perceives as a lack of prosecution by federal authorities for cases involving illegal entry. "The current trend seems to be issuing a court date, far in the future, without much ability or willingness to track their movements between now and then," said Richards. To mitigate this issue, he suggested securing the border and allocating additional trained staff and resources for law enforcement.
Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveals that there were approximately 4.1 million Southwest border encounters combined in FY2021 and FY2022 compared to 458,088 encounters recorded in FY2020.
A fact-sheet released by the House Committee on Homeland Security in October 2023 indicated that under President Joe Biden's administration, there have been 7.5 million encounters nationwide and 6.2 million encounters at the Southwest border, along with 1.7 million known "gotaways". The CBP has reportedly arrested 35,433 aliens with criminal convictions, including gang members and MS-13 members, in FY2023. Furthermore, CBP seized 27,293 pounds of fentanyl from the southern border during the same period.
