Martin County sheriff, 2 others to visit Arizona to learn 'what's going on at the border'

MARTIN COUNTY — Citing significant local drug arrests and seizures and issues related to undocumented individuals, Sheriff William Snyder said he and two others will travel to an Arizona border county to get an idea of “how they're dealing with societal disruptions.”

“I want to hear from a border county that has severe disruption, what is it exactly they're doing, how are they coping with it,” Snyder said Thursday.

He noted the Wednesday arrests of two people and seizure of 370 pressed fentanyl pills.

He said since December the agency has seized more than 10,000 fentanyl pills and about 3 pounds of methamphetamine “likely coming from our open border.”

The jail, he said, is over capacity at 540 inmates, with 45 being undocumented individuals. Of those, 11 are sex offenders and 37 have federal “holds.”

“Our deputies are seeing an increase in people driving in our county who are here illegally; they never ever possessed a driver's license,” he said. “This means they have no formal training, nor do they have insurance.”

Undocumented individuals often are robbery targets, he said.

“They're afraid to report to law enforcement. They oftentimes don't have a bank account. They carry cash,” he said.

Snyder said it’s become clear to him the county “is facing the same quality of life and crime issues that actual border states are facing.”

He accepted an invitation from Mark Dannels, sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, to visit and get “a detailed briefing on the implications of our open border.”

“Sheriff Dannels says if you don't understand what's going on at the border, you will be in the dark as to what is occurring in your community,” Snyder said.

Snyder plans to leave Feb. 13 and stay a week. A captain and a lieutenant in charge of the sheriff’s narcotics section also will go. The trip is to include a day of briefings, and a day of “boots on the ground integrating with Cochise County sheriff's deputies at the border itself,” he said.

The trip is not being paid for with taxpayer dollars.

“I really do hope to have a better idea of what we can do here in Martin County,” he said. “It's my belief that I'll come away with a better understanding of the phenomenon, and maybe be able to direct resources here in a more focused approach.”

He said as part of the recent drug case, investigators have text messages “in which the seller of the … fentanyl actually said 'this is my ‘border price.’”

The recent drug busts are related to a “porous border” through which “unimaginable amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl” enter the country, he said.

“I do want to be a voice for reason and sanity, and what's going on now is unreasonable and insane,” Snyder said.

Snyder said looking at the border, drugs and undocumented individuals vulnerable to crime, it’s “not a good mixture.”

He said he’s trying to stay out of politics.

“I know that the 'in' thing in Washington is the left blames the right, and the right blames the left,” he said. “I will tell you this, the federal government has completely failed the people of the United States. They (feds) are the ones who have the power.”

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Martin County Sheriff William Snyder on drugs seizures, trip to border