Valley agents conduct largest meth seizure in Border Patrol history

February 6, 2009 - 8:37 PM
Ana Ley
The Monitor
FALFURRIAS — U.S. Border Patrol agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint conducted the biggest methamphetamine seizure in the agency's history last week, officials said.

The massive 312-pound stash is larger than the combined total of every meth seizure for the agency's Rio Grande Valley Sector last year, said Border Patrol spokesman John Lopez. Agents in the Valley sector seized about 220 pounds of meth in 2008.

A Border Patrol dog sniffed out the drugs hidden within a truckload of grapefruit on Jan. 31. The tractor-trailer's driver and passenger, who could not be immediately identified Friday evening, are in the custody of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Both are U.S. citizens.

The drugs have an estimated street value of $10 million, or about $32,000 per pound.

Meth seizures are rare in the Valley. The last major bust here was in June, when police found 211 pounds of the stimulant inside a McAllen home.

Along the U.S.-Mexico border, authorities seized about 4,426 pounds of meth in 2008, according to statistics released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Nationwide, officials seized about 13,966 pounds.

Meth is a powerful synthetic stimulant that can be smoked, snorted, injected or ingested orally. It is manufactured from decongestants that contain the substance pseudoephedrine. Meth is smuggled in smaller quantities than other drugs because only a tiny amount is needed to get high.

Last year, authorities discovered about 2,584 meth labs in the country, according to DOJ statistics.

Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine import restrictions in Mexico contributed to a decrease in meth production there and reduced the flow of the drug from Mexico to the United States in 2007 and 2008, according to a report by the U.S. National Drug Intelligence Center.

Methamphetamine shortages were reported in some U.S. drug markets during much of 2007 and even through early 2008. Last year, though, small-scale domestic meth production increased in many areas, and some Mexican drug trafficking organizations moved their production operations from Mexico to the United States, particularly to California, according to the center's report.

"The rise in domestic methamphetamine production was fueled by an increase in domestic pseudoephedrine trafficking by individuals and criminal groups circumventing national retail pseudoephedrine sales restrictions," the report states. "These individuals and criminal groups often make pseudoephedrine product purchases at or below the allowable purchase limit from multiple retail outlets.

Known as "smurfing," this practice often involves meth producers enlisting the assistance of several friends or associates and allows them to increase the speed of their operations and the quantity of chemicals acquired.

Looking forward, the NDIC predicts the relocation of some Mexican meth producers from Mexico to California, the resurgence of small-scale meth production and the emergence of large-scale smurfing operations throughout the country.

The center also forecasts Mexican drug traffickers will intensify their efforts to acquire meth ingredients in South America, allowing them to boost production in Mexico and increasing the flow of Mexico-made meth to the United States.

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