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Lothar121

Border Patrol Seeing Marijuana Increase
Mark Stevenson | Sun-Sentinel.com | 05/27/06

ASABE, Mexico -- Weighed down by 50-pound sacks of marijuana, they hike through the desert for days to reach remote drop-off points in the United States, then sneak back across the Mexican border.

They are seldom illegal immigrants, but drug runners, physically fit and able to carry heavy loads for long distances. In some cases, it's been the family business for generations.

Lately, they're getting caught running more drugs than ever -- often over the same desert routes used by undocumented immigrants -- with the U.S. Border Patrol reporting a sharp increase in the amount of marijuana seized.

The Border Patrol's Tucson, Ariz., sector confiscated almost as much marijuana in the first 71/2 months of this fiscal year as they did all of last year, and seizures are up all along the border.

"These are often second- and third-generation smugglers. This is what they do for a living, and once they deliver a load, they simply go back" into Mexico, said Gustavo Soto, a spokesman for the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol.

In Soto's sector, agents seized 441,482 pounds of marijuana between Oct. 1 and May 17, compared to about 489,000 pounds for all the preceding fiscal year ending in September. Across the entire border, the Border Patrol has seized 957,638 pounds of marijuana this year, up from 755,914 pounds in the same period last year.

Those figures include drugs smuggled into the United States in vehicles driven into the desert, but increasing border security measures like fences and vehicle barriers appear to be making that more difficult.

Soto said the backpackers -- known as narcotics "mules" -- "wander in the desert for anywhere from two to possibly even four days until they get to their destination."

The drug runs are so difficult that Steve Robertson, a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency special agent who has worked along the Texas border, says the average immigrant couldn't make them.

Soto attributes the rise in seizures to increased border security, including sensors, cameras and a variety of desert vehicles.

But Mexico's Attorney General, Daniel Cabeza de Vaca, said cartels are also becoming more reliant on income from marijuana. "We know that marijuana is becoming more and more important [for the cartels] and that cocaine is on its way down," he said.

Changing U.S. drug habits -- like the increasing popularity of synthetic drugs, such as methamphetamines -- also have cut into cocaine's profitability, experts say.

Border Patrol cocaine seizures are down to 5,260 pounds so far this fiscal year, from the 6,406 pounds seized in the same period last year.

The figures do not include drugs seized at formal border crossing points, which are the responsibility of U.S. Customs.

Customs and Border Protection spokesman Todd Fraser said the surge in marijuana seizures may be short-lived, and may force traffickers to use other tactics.

"In the short term, you may see an increase," he said, "but I think over the long term there may be a decline, as these drug trafficking organizations say, `Hey, they're intercepting our loads. It's not worth it smuggling over these traditional routes.'"

The recent discovery of smuggling tunnels under the border may be a sign of the traffickers' desperation, he said.

"We look at this as a success," Fraser said. "We're literally forcing these people underground."

The two phenomena -- illegal immigration and marijuana smuggling -- may overlap only in geography and tactics, officials say.

"We have no evidence that [drug traffickers] are getting involved in migrant smuggling," Cabeza de Vaca said. Soto noted that only on "rare occasions" are immigrants found carrying drugs, in some cases as a way to pay the fees smugglers charge for guiding them through the desert.

But drug traffickers and immigrant smugglers do have one thing in common: They are increasingly likely to attack U.S. personnel who try to detain them, U.S. officials say.

Soto said traffickers and smugglers have used every type of weapon to hit back at agents.

"The frustration level is starting to increase because of our effectiveness," he said, citing attacks that include rock throwing, shootings, and even cases where smugglers have tried to run over agents with their vehicles.

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dedbr

and ask myself, why. The number's just keep climbing and it's a direct result of prohibition. I guess none of these people care that this is a useless battle.....



The Border Patrol seized almost a MILLION pounds this year, up from about three quarters of a million pounds the year before.

Imagine how much got across the border.....

( All in one pile....outside the Bunker.....)


How much do they get? Lord, think of the pile of herb they must have! Think of the money they could make taxing it and selling it on the internet.....

Hell, Dubya's probably got bag's full of heroin straight from Afghanistan, hash oil, herb, all kinda good stuff he could use to pay off the national debt with.

Think of it, they grab TW0 MILLION or so POUNDS of herb a year and probably burn it......


Somewhere in Ded Land.....( Did I mention the 2 million pounds...? )

__________________
"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power."

Abraham Lincoln
Happy New Year.......

reggie_the_dog

If they confiscate 2,000,000 pounds a year, on an estimation that they get 10%
that would hint that 18,000,000 pounds make it.

factor in an estimate that this only represents 40% of the cannabis consumed in the USA in a given year, add in 27,000,000 pounds consumed that are produced domestically and you have 45,000,000 pounds or 20,160,000,000 grams consumed per year.

imagine that 20 billion grams smoked per year in the USA....

thats a lot of bong hits

Buzzby

That's only 2.37 ounces per American per year. We need to try harder...

On the other hand, if you only consider the 24,000,000 cannabis consumers it's 29.63 ounces per person per year. That sounds awfully high. A low-side estimate, based on weed costing $100/oz, would have the average cannabis consumer spending $3,000 a year on weed. I wish I had that kind of money to spend on recreational drugs.

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1tokeovertheline

What way is the wind blowing????????? It just hit Ohio and is heading for NNY

 

commonsense

The federal government actually does estimates on our marijuana supply. For 2003 they estimated our marijuana supply was between 12,000 and 25,000 metric tons, after law enforcement seized all it was going to seize. There are a million grams in a metric ton, so that would come out to between 12 billion and 25 billion grams of marijuana available on the market here in 2003. Your estimate was pretty close to their estimate.

By the way, between the feds, local and state law enforcement, I believe a good bit more than 2 million pounds are seized every year. In recent years the feds alone have been seizing over 1,200 metric tons a year, and 1,200 metric tons is approaching 2.7 million pounds. There isn't very good data on what state and local law enforcement seize. It's less than what the feds seize, but it's hard to say how much less. The locals where I live sure seize a heck of a lot off the interstate, thousands of pounds every year. Loads of over a ton in tractor trailers or in "stash houses" are not by any means unheard of in this country, and there are an awful lot of busts involving hundreds of pounds, not to mention the hundreds of thousands of smaller seizures. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that the actual amounts seized by all law enforcement combined in this country is closer to 4 or 5 million pounds per year.

dedbr

two million tons a year...... piled up in front of the Bunker....a wall of herb stretching from dedbr to 1toke.....

Why I have no idea.....

Did I mention the 2 million tons......


Somewhere in Ded Land....

Buzzby

When did we move from two million pounds to two million tons?

What's four orders of magnitude among friends?

1tokeovertheline

So you can start at one end and I'll start at the other. We can meet somewhere in Pennsylvania. How about Hershey, then we can take the chocolate tour and pig out.

Since it is multiplying so fast Buzzby can help, if he will promise not to smoke more than his 1/3 of it.

dedbr

Oh yes, we will build a wall.... It will go thru Hershey....it will get chocolate all over it.....Buzzby will help.....Buzzby will get chocolate all over him....Buzzby will laugh maniacly after the third day......1toke and I will worry about him for a few days, then we will stop as he has the vaporizer and is picky about who uses it.

In the middle we will build a temple with the contraband herb...we will not smoke it...oh no... it is contraband....we will be good americans....it shall show all americans where their money goes in this war...

this is what we buy....a temple of herb....a mountain of pot....a pile of disgrace....


Somewhere in Ded Land....