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More drugs coming to state ports of entry

By Anna Cearley
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 17, 2005

TIJUANA – Mexican drug cartels appear to be pushing even greater quantities of narcotics through California's ports of entry, in particular through San Diego, U.S. officials say.

The amount of drugs seized from October 2004 through June of this year increased 69 percent from the same nine-month period the previous fiscal year along the state's five border crossings, according to statistics provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Vince Bond, spokesman for the San Diego office of the agency, said he wouldn't speculate on the reasons behind the leap.

"Are there more narcotics being produced down there? Or is this a consequence of rivalry between cartels? Or heightened border security? . . . I'm not in a position to comment to say what it is or not," he said.

Marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine found in cargo trucks and vehicles jumped from 134,379 pounds to 227,567, according to the statistics.

Bond said most of the seizures, particularly of marijuana, occurred at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry into San Diego. The three other ports of entry along the border in the state are Tecate; Calexico; and Andrade, west of Yuma, Ariz. The numbers also include confiscations at seaports and airports in the San Diego area, but the vast majority of drugs were seized at land ports.

He said drug seizures decreased dramatically shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as cartels appeared to avoid the increased security at the ports of entry.

"There was tremendous reticence on the part of smugglers to get drugs through the U.S., but since then it has been slowly increasing year by year," he said.

During the past two months, the Mexican government has sent police and soldiers to border communities that are experiencing drug-related violence attributed to power battles among the region's dominant drug cartels. However, it may be too early to say whether those actions have affected the flow of drugs north.

Bond said the drug shipments often are broken down into smaller quantities that are stuffed inside vehicles' tanks, bumpers, seats and tires that go through the passenger lanes. He said that drugs have been found inside the panels of Mexican buses and inside boxes labeled as food products.