Next week, June 17-18, Montana Attorney General Tim Fox and Commander of the Montana Highway Patrol, Colonel Tom Butler, will visit and tour the southern border.

“We’ve been invited to have a briefing with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) out of El Paso, Texas and the Border Patrol just past the Texas and New Mexico border, and from there down to the Mexican border,” said Fox. “Despite all the national rhetoric, I do know first hand here in Montana that we do in fact need to secure our southern border.”

Fox said the increase in criminal activity in Montana in great part can be traced to the southern border.

“Primarily, it has to do with methamphetamine and heroin,” he said. “I just got a report that this year the Montana Highway Patrol alone has interdicted nearly 22 pounds of methamphetamine and they have made upwards of 120 arrests which is already on track to be more than 2017. We’ve seen a very steady rise over the last 10 years in Mexican methamphetamine, and even more recently, heroin.”

Fox said he and Colonel Butler want to get first hand reports from the southern border to better prepare for whatever might be coming up to Montana.

Attorney General Fox and Colonel Butler will visit ports of entry for persons, vehicles, and cargo in El Paso, Texas, where Customs and Border Protection officials will demonstrate screening and security techniques. They will also tour portions of the international border in New Mexico.

 

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