Border Patrol seizes record amount of pot in Ariz

The Associated Press
5:41 p.m. July 14, 2009

TUCSON, Ariz. — Agents in the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson sector have seized a record 1 million pounds of marijuana, with an estimated street value of $800 million, so far this fiscal year, federal officials said Tuesday.

The seizures during the first 9 1/2 months of fiscal 2009, which began Oct. 1, are the most ever in a single sector of the Border Patrol.

The Tucson sector, covering 260 miles of the Mexican border from New Mexico to Yuma County, is the nation's busiest portion of the 2,000-mile southwest border for smuggling of illegal immigrants and marijuana.

Tucson Sector Chief Robert Gilbert attributed the success to the tireless efforts of his agents and the support of local, state and federal law enforcement partners.

Agents in the sector seized 816,402 pounds of marijuana during fiscal 2008, and a previous-record 897,289 pounds in fiscal 2007, spokesman Rob Daniels said.

Other reasons cited for the increased seizures included additional Border Patrol agents, better tactics, construction of pedestrian and vehicle barriers and improved border access roads, improvements to temporary vehicle checkpoints and technology that has become increasingly integrated.

Nationally, the Border Patrol's parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, announced that narcotics seizures are at an all-time high, while arrests of illegal immigrants have dipped to a multiyear low.

During the first nine months of the fiscal year, CBP seizures of illicit narcotics at and between ports of entry, including those of the Border Patrol, totaled more than 2.7 million pounds of drugs, 52 percent above the same period in fiscal 2008.

"We will continue to increase the pressure on drug and human smugglers by confronting them at every turn, including their attempts to smuggle weapons and bulk cash south of the border," said Jayson Ahern, CBP's acting commissioner.

The largest single marijuana seizure occurred in March when Customs and Border Protection officers with a dog trained to detect narcotics discovered 10,764 pounds hidden inside a tractor-trailer hauling toilet paper through the port of entry at Otay Mesa, Calif.

Customs and Border Protection has added more than 11,000 enforcement personnel since fiscal 2006, as well as 493 miles of fencing along the Mexican border.

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