http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal....pport=1 Whereas law-enforcement personnel increasingly rely on high-tech intelligence and tracking techniques to capture smugglers and illegal migrants, the Shadow Wolves employ ancient tracking methods developed by their ancestors. The Shadow Wolves, who work under U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement administrative leadership within the Department of Homeland Security, use their highly honed tracking skills and their familiarity with O’odham culture to find and apprehend drug smugglers. During the first six months of 2007, the Shadow Wolves seized almost 50,000 pounds of marijuana on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.31
The federal government first organized the Shadow Wolves in 1972 and placed them within the U.S. Customs Service. Initially, they consisted of a few members of the Tohono O’odham Nation who were skilled trackers. Over the years, trackers from other Indian nations have joined them.
After the creation of the Homeland Security Department in 2003, the Shadow Wolves transferred to the U.S. Border Patrol. Almost from the beginning, significant differences in methods and institutional cultures caused tensions between the Border Patrol and the Shadow Wolves. For example, Border Patrol agents operate within designated seven-mile patrol areas, and they expected the Shadow Wolves to abide by the same spatial restrictions. Additionally, the Border Patrol prevented the Shadow Wolves from continuing to pay informants. Although these rules of engagement serve Border Patrol agents well, the Shadow Wolves viewed them as stifling.32 Furthermore, the Border Patrol is a large, highly structured agency with a well-defined chain of command. The administrative structure of the Shadow Wolves, on the other hand, is purposefully loose in order to accommodate an operational mode in which individual members work independently by becoming part of the communities they serve.
In recognition of the very different roles played by Border Patrol agents and the Shadow Wolves, the Department of Homeland Security transferred the Shadow Wolves to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2006. After their transfer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials removed the restrictions under which the Shadow Wolves had previously operated. The Shadow Wolves are pleased with the new arrangement and are once again seizing tons of smuggled drugs on the Tohono O’odham Reservation.
