The Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department in New Mexico has has formed a "party patrol" to deal with underage drinking. Here is what the "party patrol" consists of: 16 specially-assigned deputies, and a goddamn helicopter.

If you made a list of "reasons a county sheriff's department should have a helicopter" how high would you place "because of underage drinking"? Would you place it... not high at all? Well: That is where you differ from the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Department, which has formed a new unit specifically to "bust up underage parties." It's working, apparently:

Early Sunday morning, the patrol arrested Miguel Montiel, 44, and charged him with five felony counts of giving liquor to minors.

Deputies were called to a loud party in a South Valley neighborhood just after midnight.

Montiel owned the house and was at the party when officers arrived.

Inside the home, deputies said they found five minors with bloodshot eyes who admitted they'd been drinking.

The youngest was 15-years-old.

They told deputies it was a graduation party.

It seems like they didn't use the helicopter to "bust up" what sounds like the lamest party in the world. But thank God they had it on hand, just in case Miguel Montiel had attempted to escape the party via his airplane.

Unfortunately, the fun may not last forever:

Graduation parties and the holiday weekend were the reasons BCSO started party patrols.

Last weekend, they busted up 16 large parties in the South Valley, North Valley and East Mountains.

The department said the busts show the patrols are working.

Saturday night's patrol, however, could be the last.

The sheriff's department said it will evaluate the past two weekends to determine if the patrols are working and if they should continue through next weekend.

I say, let's get some predator drones up in here, and see how much more underage drinking we can stop.

[KRQE, via andrewoc]