A massive 18 pounds of cocaine, 27 pounds of heroin, and 78 pounds of marijuana were intercepted from drug smugglers this weekend in just the El Paso area ports of entry.
These numbers constitute a fraction of the total drugs seized this weekend and just a fraction of a fraction of the total drugs smuggled across the border.
Most smuggling efforts are successful. To put this matter in perspective, the latest numbers from U.S. Customs and Border Protection log over 296,000 lbs of narcotics seized so far this year. But, fewer than 5% of vehicles crossing the border are thoroughly screened by CBP and, on average, only 3,000 people are arrested for smuggling drugs each year.
On April 8, CBP officers conducting vehicle inspections detected the presence of narcotics in the car of a 24-year-old U.S. citizen who was transporting 18 pounds of cocaine.
On April 9. CBP officers seized 27 pounds of heroin following an x-ray scan of a vehicle.
On April 10, an unassuming 63-year-old U.S. citizen who was transporting 78 pounds of marijuana was caught when drug dogs alerted officers to the presence of narcotics.
Regardless of an individual’s position on decriminalization, the fact remains that drugs crossing the southern border are financing cartel warlords, contributing to the instability of Mexico and Central America, and creating an environment that produces even more illegal immigrants.
Quantifying the immensity of drugs passing over our border and onto the streets of America requires rather difficult arithmetic with too many unknown variables. What is certain, however, is that each and every single day pounds upon pounds of deadly poison slip through the cracks—far more makes it through than is ever caught.
