Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes repeated her criticism of President Donald Trump’s executive order to freeze federal funding during a Thursday news conference where she and other law enforcement leaders touted the results of a multi-month drug bust operation that was executed last year.

Mayes and law enforcement leaders stood before a pile of illegal drugs, including roughly 1.7 million fentanyl pills, along with firearms and cash that were seized in drug busts across the Valley as part of Operation Double Down.

When a reporter asked if any of Trump’s executive actions possibly impacted the operation, Mayes offered a warning.

“It is true that this (operation) was not impacted,” Mayes said of Trump’s executive order. “But I want to be clear that President Trump’s executive order freezing federal funds absolutely impacted and would have continued to impact operations exactly like this one if I had not — along with my fellow Democratic attorneys general — won a temporary restraining order against President Trump.”

Mayes, a Democrat, joined 21 other states in a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its plans to pause federal grants and other funding for certain programs.

Mayes said the freeze would have impacted the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program — or HIDTA — among other multi-agency operations.

“That was the insanity of that executive order,” Mayes said. “Because these operations, where my office is working with the FBI, the DEA, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, Phoenix Police Department, Tempe Police Department, are resulting in the seizure of millions of fentanyl pills. And it was absolutely unacceptable to me as the attorney general of this state that we would see any cessation whatsoever of law enforcement’s ability to go out and seize these pills and to protect Arizona.”

Law enforcement leaders laud agency partnerships, collaboration

Mayes joined interim Phoenix Police Chief Michael Sullivan, Cheri Oz, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Phoenix office, and Arizona HIDTA director Dawn Mertz to promote the results of Operation Double Down at Phoenix Police’s southern command center.

The law enforcement leaders stood before a pile of illegal drugs, firearms and cash seized through a string of drug busts that occurred throughout the Valley between April and November last year that they credited to interagency cooperation.

“The outcome of this operation is impressive,” Sullivan said. “And it’s a testament to the partnerships between local and federal police agencies and prosecutors.”

Oz echoed the sentiments of Sullivan and other leaders.

“These astounding seizures and numerous arrests were only possible because we doubled down on our partnerships and combined resources to protect you, your families and our community," Oz said.

Search warrant leads to string of drug busts

Steve Martos, a commander with Phoenix Police’s Drug Enforcement Bureau, said the operation began when detectives investigating a drug trafficking organization discovered 230,000 fentanyl pills, five kilograms of fentanyl powder, one and a half kilograms of cocaine and multiple firearms.

Martos said the drug bust sparked a string of investigations that ultimately led to the seizure of a total of 1.7 million fentanyl pills, 26 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 24 kilograms of cocaine, 370 pounds of methamphetamine, 13 pounds of heroin, $210,000 in cash, 14 vehicles and 28 firearms.

“The local impact of drug distribution was found to be widespread,” Martos said. “It’s coming here to Phoenix as a hub because of our proximity to the border. From here, it is distributed to other parts of the country.”

Martos estimated the total value of the drugs seized was around $4 million to $5 million while noting their value could double or triple as they moved further east.

Mayes calls for more DEA agents assigned to Arizona

After she criticized Trump’s effort to halt federal aid, Mayes called for the president to assign more DEA agents to Arizona to help combat the flow of fentanyl and illegal narcotics.

“Many folks don’t know this, but states like New York and Florida have three times or more DEA agents than Arizona,” Mayes said. “That is ridiculous.”

Mayes said 50% or more of the fentanyl seized in the U.S. is captured in Arizona and that increased federal funding is necessary to adequately address the issue.

The DEA declined to say how many staff it had in other states compared to Arizona, citing security reasons.