How do drugs from Mexico enter the U.S.?
How do drugs from Mexico enter the U.S.?
The Republic | azcentral.comPublished 10:03 p.m. MT Sept. 20, 2017
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Drugs
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Customs and Border Protection works to stop drugs coming from Mexico by land, sea, air and even tunnel.
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(Photo: Nick Oza/USA TODAY NETWORK)
How do drugs from Mexico enter the U.S.?
Much of the illegal drug trafficking intercepted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection isn’t coming over a fence. It happens at the nation’s ports of entry. Usually drugs are found hidden in cars or trucks entering the United States.
During the 2016 fiscal year, CBP agents seized 246,000 kilograms of marijuana, meth, cocaine and heroin at southwest ports of entry compared with 589,000 kilograms outside ports of entry.
The sheer volume of vehicular traffic at the ports can make finding drugs challenging. For example, San Diego, the busiest land crossing in the country, sees more than 40 million cars pass through each year.
When drugs are smuggled outside the ports of entry, they are either transported through underground tunnels, boats traveling off the Pacific coast, or by people trekking through remote areas. Experts say tunnels are used for heavy loads that are repackaged and loaded onto trucks and shipped throughout the U.S.
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