http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/state/16412006.htm -

Arrests increase as Mexicans return from holidays
ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas - U.S. customs agents seized more than a ton of marijuana and busted dozens of people for suspected immigration violations during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year at four far West Texas border crossings.

Roger Maier, an El Paso spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said 1,577 pounds of marijuana, hidden in the seats of a pickup truck, was discovered in one inspection. The remainder was seized in nine other incidents.

Customs officials at all 36 ports along the Mexican border were busy over the weekend as tens of thousands of Mexicans living in the U.S. made their way north as the holiday season officially ended Saturday with the celebration of the Epiphany, or Three Kings Day. The rush - which has become a predictable holiday tradition for customs agents - was in part to get children home in time for school Monday, Maier said.

In addition to the marijuana seizures and 71 suspected immigration violations in El Paso, customs agents also seized a host of prohibited fruit and meat products, including raw pork, Maier said.

Doug Mosier, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman in El Paso, said agents patrolling between the ports also expected to see an increase in traffic this month as illegal immigrants try to make their way back into the interior of the country.

Maier estimated nearly 50,000 cars crossed over each the border in El Paso on each of the past three days.

"Our strategy is to open more lanes earlier than normal to avoid establishing a buildup of traffic that would be hard to manage," Maier said.

According to a U.S. Customs Web site that lists border wait times, waits were under an hour at all 36 southern border crossings by early Monday afternoon.

Maier said most people coming across the bridges over the weekend waited no more than an hour to get on their way to the interior of the country.