Smuggling into U.S. unhindered by drug-trade war

Online: To read the U.S. Department of Justice's National Drug Threat Assessment 2009, go to uniontrib.com/more/drugthreat

By Jose Luis Jimenez (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer
11:36 a.m. January 4, 2009

Northern Baja California is a primary staging area for packaging illegal drugs and smuggling them into the United States.

But while Mexican cartels fight for control of the lucrative routes, drug agents say the amount of trafficking has not diminished.

“I haven't seen a huge difference in the smuggling attempts,â€