House Speaker Greg Hughes, Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox and Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires updated lawmakers Wednesday about Operation Rio Grande — and ballyhooed successes so far — in an effort to prime them for yet-to-come funding requests.
Squires said the operation, which began last week, had led to 491 arrests including more than 50 felonies — mostly targeting drug trafficking.
He said most drug dealers and other criminals have fled the area, but some figure “they would just wait us out because there have been some cycles before” when increased enforcement pulled back after a week or so.