Amid increased cartel presence in U.S., DHS touts border seizures
February 10, 2011
By Charlie Morasch, Land Line staff writer

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this week announced rising numbers of drug and cash seizures at the southwest border shared with Mexico.

The announcement, however, isn’t likely to make truckers feel more secure about their jobs or safety near the border, as the White House continues to make noise about expanding cross border trucking.

At a press conference Tuesday in Tucson, AZ, officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and others announced that CBP and ICE seized more than $282 million in cash, 7 million pounds of drugs, and more than 6,800 weapons along the southwest border in 2009 and 2010.

Joe Rajkovacz, OOIDA director of regulatory affairs, pointed out that the rise in interceptions is notable, but “the fact remains that only a very small percentage of overall shipments of contraband are intercepted.â€