Southbound screenings

Mexico's customs inspection plans raise traffic concerns

By Sandra Dibble
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
2:00 a.m. August 3, 2009

Background: Mexico has long relied on random inspections to check vehicles entering the country, with fewer than one in 10 targeted.
What's changing: As Mexico tries to disrupt the flow of guns and money to drug cartels, it is installing equipment to screen every vehicle at ports of entry. People on both sides of the border are apprehensive that the screening could lead to traffic backups that will hamper the border economy.

The future: The equipment may be operational at San Ysidro and Otay Mesa next month.

For decades, most drivers crossing from the United States into Mexico haven't even had to stop for a customs inspection. Now that is changing, and communities on both sides of the 2,000-mile border are struggling to adjust.

A plan by Mexican authorities to electronically screen every vehicle entering the country has generated protests from business groups and political leaders who fear the move will cripple border commerce.

The new system is expected to begin operating at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa crossings as early as next month. The system weighs, measures and photographs inbound vehicles, checking for anomalies.

Authorities say the measures are critical to stemming the southbound flow of weapons and cash from the United States that fuels drug-related violence in Mexico.

In San Diego and Tijuana – cities linked by one of the world's busiest land border crossings – many fear the measures will cause costly delays as the southbound waits mirror those for northbound vehicles.

β€œIt's a good program, but poorly applied,β€