KEEP VALLEY'S FEDERAL CRIME TEAM INTACT

"It's a war."

Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico

According to the ongoing Los Angeles Times series, "Mexico Under Siege:
The drug war at our doorstep," 6,836 drug war-related deaths have
occurred in Mexico since January 2007.

Arizona is becoming ground zero in America's war against the Mexican
drug cartels that have expanded their criminal enterprises beyond drug
trafficking. New partnerships with our homegrown prison and street
gangs have given the cartels more opportunity to increase profits and
power.

In a Dec. 8 Associated Press report, Mexico's attorney general Eduardo
Medina said, "Organized-crime slayings in Mexico are up 117 percent"
in 2008, compared to 2007.

Look south to see what can happen if the cartels get a stranglehold on
Arizona. Recent violence in Nogales is a reminder of how close the
enemy is. Maricopa County is already the kidnapping capital of America
and much of the ransom money obtained goes to the cartels.

For whatever reasons, Arizona has become the place where much of the
showdown between good and evil might take place. After years of
neglect at all levels of government, our state has become the pathway
for the cartels' northern movement.

One of soon-to-be Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano's
first duties must be to stop the flood of organized crime and
corruption into the U.S. from Mexico.

Her success will be critical for Barack Obama's presidency, her career
and our safety. Napolitano will need all the help she can get.

She needs to look at the East Valley police and the federal law
enforcement agencies who have partnered up to see how effective law
enforcement can and should be done.

During the past two years, we've seen considerable success due in
large part to the efforts of East Valley police chiefs and the leaders
of four federal agencies.

The federal "A-Team" is made up of U.S. Marshal David Gonzales, Drug
Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Beth Kempshall,
Phoenix FBI boss John Lewis and Bill Newell, the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Special Agent in Charge.

Gonzales, Arizona's dean of federal law enforcement, is a retired
state police captain with decades of experience and success leading
attacks on organized crime and busting street gangs. He's been
described as the catalyst who has put feds and local cops together and
moving in the same direction. His command presence, reputation and
credibility are second to none.

As a career federal narcotics agent, Kempshall infiltrated major
organized crime groups while working undercover. And as a DEA leader
she's commanded successful assaults on multiple crime syndicates
nationwide. Lewis is the FBI's former deputy assistant director over
counter-terrorism operations. Links between terrorists and drug
traffickers exist. Thanks in a large part to Lewis' leadership, the
Phoenix FBI office has gained new acceptance and status with local
police. Newell, who has extensive experience throughout Latin America,
is responsible for taking the Phoenix ATF office to new levels of
success in attacking career and violent criminals and stemming the
flow of weapons into the hands of Mexican cartels.

The local feds have set a new standard when it comes to success and
working with local police. A standard that doesn't exist everywhere
and didn't in Arizona until these four came along. Infighting and turf
wars are still common in policing.

Gonzales recently told a Valley paper that the cartels are continuing
to grow more powerful in Mexico and it's just a matter of time before
the violence crosses the border.

Our current federal law enforcement leadership team is our best bet at
stopping the cartels from dictating Arizona's future.

Unfortunately, with a new administration in Washington comes the
prospect that Arizona's current federal law enforcement leaders will
be replaced or transferred. Changing and disrupting a team that
operates with the success, confidence and efficiency of a championship
NASCAR pit crew would hurt us dearly.

And without Arizona's current federal "A-Team," Napolitano's job to
fight the war against the cartels will be all that much more difficult
to win in her home state.