The Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force – comprised of investigators from the Arizona Department of Public Safety, the Phoenix Police Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office – has quietly become a world-class success story.

Since its formation eight years ago, the Task Force has gained recognition across the country and around the globe for its innovative efforts to combat human and drug smuggling. Its high standing was recently affirmed when it received one of the top accolades in law enforcement: The International Association of Chiefs of Police/ChoicePoint Award for Excellence in Criminal Investigations.

The award specifically recognized a year-long investigation, called “Operation Fly-by-Night,” that led to the indictment of 16 individuals and the breakup of a large human smuggling operation in Arizona.

In 2006, Task Force investigators noted an unusual level of travel activity associated with a travel agency booking flights in and out of Las Vegas, Nevada. Working closely with major airline carriers and the Airlines Reporting Corporation (ARC), the Task Force was able to identify individual travel agencies that contributed to the conspiracy. Undercover detectives posed as “coyotes” and became customers of travel agency personnel who were providing guidance, direction and passage for undocumented immigrants.

In March 2007, I announced the indictments and evidence that six Valley travel agencies provided one-way airline tickets to more than 6,800 undocumented immigrants since August 2005 when Arizona’s human smuggling statute took effect. All of the tickets, worth a total of nearly $2 million, were for travel from McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, where immigration security was known to be less rigorous than at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix.

One measure of the criminal investigation award’s magnitude can be seen in the outstanding achievement of the first runner-up, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Its Montreal Drug Section was honored for breaking up a major hashish importation conspiracy. The RCMP partnered with the Canadian Navy in an investigation that culminated with a seizure of more than 22 tons of hashish in a vessel-to-vessel transfer that occurred 200 miles off the shore of Angola.

Though the travel agency case made headlines, most of the Financial Crimes Task Force’s work has been done with little publicity. It has developed effective tools and techniques that enable investigators to “follow the money” that funds smuggling operations. A key tool has been the “damming warrant” to block or "dam" wire transfers of money and thereby stem the flow of laundered criminal proceeds out of Arizona.

The Task Force continues to pursue a wide range of financial crimes. Two weeks ago, I announced a 60-count indictment against three defendants who had directed a $56 million money-laundering operation, primarily though three Western Union locations in Phoenix and Mesa.

I am extremely proud of the work done by the Arizona Financial Crimes Task Force. Its efforts have significantly disrupted criminal human smuggling operations in our state. Through innovative and diligent investigative work, we have made a substantial impact on those organizations that bring crime and drugs to our neighborhoods.

Terry Goddard