Departments of Homeland Security, Interior, and Agriculture Collaborate on Operation Trident

Tucson, Ariz. – Federal law enforcement officers from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Customs and Border Protection, the Department of Interior, and Department of Agriculture are teaming up to counter illegal cross-border activity on federal public lands in Arizona.

Operation Trident is a collaborative enforcement approach that leverages the capabilities and resources of these three federal agencies to counter the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations, protect public lands from environmental damage, and deter violations of cultural and environmental laws.

“Our partnerships with federal law enforcement partners are critical to our ability to secure our communities from smuggling organizations,” said Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Randy Hill. “As a result of Operation Trident, we are reducing criminal activity along the Arizona/Mexico border while protecting public lands from environmental degradation.”

More than 80 percent of the Tucson Sector area of responsibility falls within public lands managed by DOI and USDA. On Feb. 9, the U.S. Border Patrol began conducting joint operations with representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, and the U.S. Forest Service to counter criminal activity on these lands – particularly smuggling.

Operation Trident is just one of many ways in which DHS is working with its law enforcement partners to more effectively counter the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations in Arizona.

On Feb. 8, CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge for Arizona Matthew Allen announced the results to date from the Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats (ACTT), a collaborative enforcement effort put in place in September 2009 to leverage the capabilities and resources of more than 60 federal, state, local and tribal agencies in Arizona and from the Government of Mexico to combat individuals and criminal organizations that pose a threat to communities on both sides of the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.