Record drug seizures on US-Mexico border

More US enforcement is one reason. But shipments from cartels may also be rising.

from the September 7, 2007 edition

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Moreover, if the drugs are more potent, American demand for drugs grows.

"Part of the reason for the methamphetamine problem these days is that the meth on the street is better, or more pure, so there are a lot more people becoming addicted," says Professor McLaren.

"The production side is one of the variables" for increased shipments into the US and more law-enforcement seizures, says Nestor Rodriguez, an expert on cross-border issues at the University of Houston. "But there's a host of variables. There's the relationship between gangs and cartels that control the movement [of drugs], and then of course enforcement on the US side."

Most officials and experts agree that US enforcement has increased. There are more border patrol agents now and their numbers continue to grow. X-ray machines, sensors, and canine units have been added to all ports of entry between Mexico and the US. More checkpoints have been set up in the interior US, not far from the border. All have contributed to more seizures of drugs, Coulson says.

But he, like other officials and experts, say drug trafficking is a cyclical business, and when one side sets up a new plan, the other side adapts. For example, soon after Felipe Calderón became Mexico's president in December, he sent thousands of troops to the border to crack down on the cartels trafficking in drugs. In addition, he extradited a number of alleged cartel members – including some leaders – to the US for prosecution.

This, in turn, led to a sort of war between the cartels for control of the lucrative production, manufacturing, and trafficking routes into the US. That chaos among the cartels stemmed the tide of drugs for a while. But in late May, reportedly, two cartels – the Gulf and the Sinaloa – formed an alliance to thwart Mr. Calderón's crackdown and to create a more stable pipeline for trafficking drugs into the US.

"We are concerned that the reported peace agreement between the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels is bad news for us," says Coulson. "We expect an increase in trafficking through this corridor based on that alliance or agreement to share this corridor."

But Coulson says the various government agencies working to stem the flow of drugs are making progress. For one thing, he says, they continue to do better at sharing information and that is leading to quicker results.

"We are certainly doing a much better job at seizing the dope that is out there," Coulson says.

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