Off the Frontlines, Veterans Find Purpose in Defending a Remote Arizona Border

In an area where Mexican cartels reign supreme, volunteers track rampant drug and human trafficking through an open border

Arizona Border Recon founder Tim Foley surveys the U.S.–Mexico border south of Arivaca, Ariz., on Dec. 8, 2018. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

ARIVACA, Arizona—The guys stand around a camp stove in the driveway, frying a carton of egg whites in an inch of bubbling bacon fat. It’s a chilly Arizona morning, and they’re preparing to head into the mountains along the U.S.–Mexico border to track drug trafficking and human smuggling.

They’re civilians who volunteer for Arizona Border Recon (AZBR), a nonprofit founded by veteran Tim Foley with a mission to gather intelligence about illicit activity on and around a remote area of the border.