Sean McGoffin, Border Patrol Chief for Tucson, Arizona, announced that Tucson Sector agents and Arizona state troopers executed search warrants in Phoenix, uncovering firearms, fentanyl pills, and mushrooms, leading to three arrests. This statement was made on the social media platform X.
“Border Patrol and Arizona Troopers took down a massive Phoenix drug operation and found everything except the kitchen sink,” said Sean Mcgoffin. “On October 2nd, Tucson Sector Border Patrol Sector Intelligence Unit (SIU) and Special Operations Detachment (SOD), assisted AZDPS Troopers with serving two residential search warrants in the Phoenix area. Between both residences, agents arrested 3 illegal aliens from Mexico and found a treasure trove of illicit contraband to include three firearms, thousands of Fentanyl pills and approximately 150 lbs. of uncultivated mushrooms. Great job AZDPS, and Border Patrol SIU/SOD Units!”
According to McGoffin’s post, an October 2 joint operation in Phoenix involved the Tucson Sector’s Sector Intelligence Unit and Special Operations Detachment working with Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers to serve two residential search warrants. Local reports indicate that agents seized thousands of fentanyl pills, approximately 150 pounds of mushrooms, multiple firearms, and other contraband. Three Mexican nationals were arrested during the operation. This effort is part of a broader initiative to target stash locations and grow sites in Arizona’s capital to prevent cartel-linked drug production and distribution networks from establishing themselves in urban neighborhoods.
Arizona law enforcement has experienced a surge in major drug seizures, highlighting the significance of the Phoenix operation that McGoffin emphasized. In one week in May 2025 alone, Arizona Department of Public Safety troopers seized over 900 pounds of illegal drugs—including methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl—during traffic stops across the state. The Tucson Sector has also set records by previously seizing more than 220 pounds of fentanyl in a single month. Arizona’s ports of entry have led the nation in fentanyl seizures. These figures illustrate why state troopers and Border Patrol frequently collaborate on search warrants and interdictions: large multi-drug seizures are now commonplace in frontline enforcement efforts within Arizona.
The Phoenix bust occurs as fentanyl remains a significant factor driving America’s overdose crisis and a central focus of border security efforts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that it seized more than 19,600 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2024—a dramatic increase compared to previous years. Nationwide data shows that by September 2025, roughly 55% less fentanyl had been seized compared with the same period in 2024; however, the drug still accounted for most overdose deaths. Analysts point out that most fentanyl is intercepted at or near the border; therefore, every multi-pound seizure—such as the thousands of pills recovered in Phoenix—represents doses that will not reach U.S. streets.
Sean McGoffin serves as chief patrol agent leading the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector which covers approximately 262 miles along the U.S.–Mexico border across most of Arizona. A nearly 30-year veteran with Border Patrol starting as a field agent in Tucson back in 1996; he later served as chief patrol agent for Havre Big Bend Yuma Sectors before returning home to Arizona where he has focused on reducing got-aways boosting prosecutions making Tucson “the most difficult place cross along Southwest border” while targeting smuggling scouts stash houses cartel infrastructure among others making Tucson Sector part US Customs Border Protection one busiest strategically important sectors southern border
