Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 4:39am MST

Phoenix Business Journal - by Mike Sunnucks

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/09/28/daily36.html

A new federal, state and local effort will be launched Wednesday aimed at drug trafficking, money laundering and organized crime rings in Arizona.

The targets Mexican drug cartels and smugglers who use Arizona as an entry point into the U.S. for gun purchases and money laundering via fraudulent businesses. There is a concerted effort among prosecutors to go after such straw businesses.

The FBI, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Attorney’s Office for Arizona, IRS, Immigration & Customs Enforcement as well as the Phoenix, Mesa and South Tucson police departments will be part of the effort. Not listed as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force are the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office and Maricopa County Attorney’s Office.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio and County Attorney Andrew Thomas have been aggressive in enforcing state and federal immigration laws. But Arpaio is subject to a U.S. Justice Department civil rights investigation question whether his tactics unfairly target Hispanics. Arpaio says that investigation is political and being pushed by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and other critics.