Posted on 07/02/2012 6:18:03 PM PDT by Kaslin
No big deal....despite the fact that a stash of AK-47s was found along a hiking trail in not Colombia, not Mexico but in....Arizona.
A hiker in the Madera Canyon area found three assault rifles in a black trash bag one mile north of Old Baldy Trail.
After receiving a report of the discovery on Wednesday, June 20, the Pima County Sheriff’s Office determined that the rifles were found in Santa Cruz County, and notified the local sheriff’s office.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies then went to the site and recovered what turned out to be a stash of AK-47 assault rifles.
Lt. Raoul Rodriguez said the rifles were “badly rusted” and had “obviously been there for quite some time.” Four rifle magazines were also recovered.
Hikers apparently are now subject to Mexican drug cartels stashing powerful weapons along areas where they used to be able to safely enjoy being outdoors. I'll be interested to know if any of these guns are linked to Operation Fast and Furious however, even if they are, I doubt ATF will be letting us know because after all, more Fast and Furious weapons traced means more bad PR for Holder's Justice Department.
On a more serious note, this is an example of what local law enforcement is up against on a daily basis. It's a war down there. Learn more by reading about my ride along with a Pinal County Sheriff's SWAT Team member.
Nearby is the infamous Vekol Valley, the largest hotbed of drug and human smuggling in the United States and where a Pinal County Deputy was shot in April 2010. Vekol is surrounded by nasty mountain ranges on both sides. There is wide-open desert starting from mile marker 160 on I-8 and stretching all the way to Mexico. Because of the terrain, Vekol acts as a funnel. As we drove into the area, I could feel that it just wasn’t a safe place to be.
Cartels also take advantage of the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation on the west side of Vekol Valley. They use it as an entry point, marry into Indian families so they can live on the reservation and, if a village is small enough, cartel members will simply walk in and take property by lethal force.
While we were driving near Vekol, Thomas explained the “terrain” problem to me after pulling off the side of the road to show me the “Travel Caution: Smuggling and Illegal Immigration May Be Encountered in This Area" sign provided by Homeland Security. (Remember, according to Janet Napolitano, the border is secure.) He said the cartels have a vast intelligence network. Men known as “spotters” sit up on the top of hills and mountains with cell phones and radios, calling drug running crews in the U.S. and Mexico about where Sheriff vehicles are located and where Border Patrol is cruising. Usually, as soon as Thomas shows up on patrol, the cartels are watching and know exactly where he is. For the spotters, failing to identify where U.S. authorities are located can result in a beating or even death. If a spotter calls into the boss in Mexico or down the road, says that they are clear to come through with a load, but then the authorities show up and seize the load, that spotter pays the price for the loss.
But these cartels aren’t just targeting Border Patrol. U.S. citizens travelling along I-8 who stop for a restroom break often find themselves carjacked right off the road. The area can’t be used for camping, hiking or hunting as it used to be because the area is dangerous and drug and human smugglers are carrying high-powered weapons like AK-47s.
“If you see too much you may get killed out here because they [cartel members] don’t want witnesses,” Thomas said.
just speculating- Wrapped in PLASTIC, Not been picked up for (who really knows) a year? Maybe the owner was offed by a SWAT team because the Fed unknown informant blew it?
Brave soul. that hiker.
In AridZONA???
Finders, keepers, no?
And of course, while I am hiking in the woods, I enjoy nature by rooting through black garbage bags ......
I wouldn't have treated them any different than a discarded water bottle. Though they might have ended up refurbished rather than recycled. ;-)
Although my first instinct would be to keep my mouth shut, I’d be worried that they’d been used in some capital crime and that they were traceable and I’d be the last one standing when the music stopped.
But, that would be a long hard thought.
Maybe bury them for a while but I’m too paranoid and I would be worried that they might be able to solve some crime and bring some fine non citizen to justice.
Why can’t I find stuff like this? I hike all the time.
No gun is ever rusty, that’s called a “patina”.
Why can’t I be that lucky?
>> “Very bad reaction on the part of the hiker.” <<
.
Pima county residents are not generally known for their brilliance. About as leftie as Arizona gets.
I know some tribal members that live on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
One told me of people that have knocked on her door and offered her a pretty big chunk of money to drive a load in to Casa Grande, about 30 miles away. As she told it, she really wasn't sure if the man was a cartel member or a DEA agent. Neither of whom she trusts. Another told me of a group of UDAs that showed up at her sister's house in dire need of water. She gave them a pitcher to get water out of her faucet. When they left, they took her wheelbarrow. About an hour later, they returned with the wheelbarrow. Only now it contained a woman's body. She had died trying to cross the desert. Tons of drugs go through the Vekol Valley every month. In Pinal Cont alone they find an average of 70 bodies a year on the desert. I have no idea how many are found on the T.O. or in Pima County. It's bad. Real bad.
Not quite. The Pinal County Sheriff's Dept. covers the Village of ChuiChu.
But you are correct that the T O is wide open. Small police dept. and and a lot of territory. It is the second largest reservation in Arizona. Plus, it extends INTO Mexico.
Border Patrol is pretty active there, but like everything there are too few with limited resources.
When I lived there TO would not allow anyone to patrol their Sovereign Nation.
No BP, No Sheriffs, No Nobody.
I must have missed the downside.
The Gunfairy leaves a gift and numbnuts reports it? He’s gonna get a lump of coal in his stocking this Christmas.
(And before anyone says anything about rust, that’s nothing a little visit from the Elbowgreasefairy won’t fix!)
Madera Canyon is in the middle of the Sonaran Desert. If they were “badly rusted” they would have had been there for over 100 years or in an area where water stood for a long time. I would think that anyone stashing guns would find a place where they stayed dry.
1-Take pictures of site, undisturbed.
2-Note GPS coordinates.
3-Note Serial Numbers.
4-Send information to Issa’s office.
...then contact the Sheriff and don’t tell them anything about 1-4.
Years ago when I lived in Phoenix, my astronomy club treasured the Vekol Valley as a dark sky site. But after too many astronomer vs. alien close encountered in the pitch blackness, we had to abandon the site.
But now that Obama and the SCOTUS have officially written off the entire state, we’re now part of Mexico whether we like it or not. We will need those AKs for our own defense.
“Then why not deploy on EA6 to the area? “
Practice for our boys at Davis-Monthan and Fort Huachuca!
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