Francisco B. Burrola Selected as HSI Arizona Special Agent in Charge

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PHOENIX, Ariz. — Francisco “Frank” B. Burrola, who has over 30 years of federal law enforcement experience — 25 of those years on the Southwest Border — was recently selected as the special agent in charge (SAC) of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Arizona.

Burrola, 51, a native of Tucson, oversees the HSI Arizona area of responsibility, which consists of 15 counties. It encompasses more than 113,000 square miles and over 350 shared miles of border with the Republic of Mexico. HSI Arizona is one of the largest HSI offices in the country.

“I’m honored to have been chosen as the SAC of Arizona. It’s a privilege to rejoin the team I left years ago, and I’m looking forward to meeting and working alongside those new to me too,” said SAC Burrola. “I’ve missed Arizona and I’m eager to get back to work in the state I call home.”

HSI is a directorate and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel and finance move.

Burrola leads all operational activities and administrative operations within HSI Arizona, which includes agents and professional staff in eight offices throughout the state.

Prior to his current assignment, Burrola was the HSI SAC for El Paso for two years. During that time, he elevated that office to record breaking criminal statistics and notable casework, earning multiple agency and department awards. Burrola was also named as federal commissioner of the Not Invincible Act Commission for Missing or Murdered Indigenous People, which was formed to improve intergovernmental coordination and establish best practices for state, tribal and federal law enforcement to strengthen and provide resources to those affected by a missing person of American Indian and Alaska Native heritage.

His prior assignments include serving as SAC for HSI Las Vegas, where he also served as the DHS federal coordinator and deputy federal coordinator for all Department of Homeland Security special event assessment rating activities; deputy special agent in charge for HSI Tucson; assistant special agent in charge in Tucson and Nogales; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)/HSI field intelligence director in Houston, Texas; ICE/HSI assistant attaché in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico; ICE National Security Division section chief in Washington, D.C.; and special agent for the U.S. Border Patrol.

Burrola initiated his career with the U.S. Border Patrol in 1994, at the Brownfield Station in San Diego, California, where he rose to the supervisory ranks prior to becoming a special agent and criminal investigator.