Border agents target cash and guns headed to Mexico

by ANGELA KOCHERGA
WFAA
Posted on August 22, 2010 at 9:55 PM
Updated yesterday at 12:42 AM

EL PASO — The U.S. has stepped up searches at the border to catch drug money and weapons bound for Mexico. It's part of the effort to cripple violent drug cartels.

U.S. Customs officers have been checking vehicles headed to Mexico looking for drug money, weapons and ammunition.

"What we're running into on a daily basis out there are those tools utilized by criminal organizations," explained El Paso Port Director William Molaski.

The operation's goal is to strike a blow to violent drug cartels. These so-called "outbound" inspections are not new, but they reached an unprecedented level this summer.

So while officers are checking vehicles headed into Mexico at one primary border crossing, why don't smugglers with drug money and weapons simply go to another location? That would be difficult, because the operation is taking place at three other border crossings in the El Paso area.

In the past, the inspections were sporadic. Now, they are simultaneous and consistent.

It has also led to long lines at the border. "I think it's too much," said El Paso resident Mauro Monsivais.

But the customs officers are also getting results. At a recent seizure in El Paso, more than $500,000 in cash was found stuffed into a spare tire.

Since March, U.S. officials have recovered more than $40 million that had been bound for Mexico.

The agents are also catching illegal immigrants as they try to leave the U.S., while finding items that indicate the drug war in Mexico is far from over.

"Your armored vests, your Kevlar helmets ... your night vision scopes. Those are the things we're seeing, and we're seeing that across the Southwest border," Molaski said.

Estela Garcia did not mind waiting while her car was searched. "It's fantastic," she said in Spanish, but she still worries about weapons that continue to cross the frontier.

E-mail akocherga@wfaa.com

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