MEXICO MANUFACTURERS FIGHT PIGGYBACK DRUG LOADS

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Oct 4 (Reuters) - As seizures of drugs riding
piggyback on legitimate cargo shipments rise at the Mexico-U.S. border,
manufacturers are cracking down to prevent drugs from getting on board
their trucks.

During the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, border agents found 68,532
pounds (31,086 kg) of illegal drugs, including $68.5 million worth of
marijuana, in 19 seizures of shipments from maquiladoras, assembly plants
that import material duty-free and produce goods for export.

That was triple the amount confiscated in the preceding 12-month period --
22,563 pounds (10,234 kg) of drugs in 14 trucks.

When illegal drugs -- usually marijuana -- are discovered on a commercial
vehicle, federal inspectors impound everything.

The truck is sold at auction, the drugs are destroyed, and the legitimate
cargo is detained indefinitely while drug enforcement agents try to
determine if the shipper is guilty, said Roger Maier, U.S. Customs
spokesman in El Paso, Texas.

Maquiladoras now figure if they spend money to prevent shipments from being
used by drug traffickers, they will save time and money in the long run.

Most of the time the legitimate cargo is returned to the owner, but
sometimes it must be destroyed, which Maier said was the case with a recent
shipment of jalapeno chilies after they were mixed with marijuana by drug
traffickers who hoped the chilies would mask the smell of the drug.

Products are returned to the manufacturer if federal agents determine the
maquiladora operator was not involved with the traffickers.

Ford Seals Trucks

One company taking action is Ford Motor Co. at its three plants in Mexico
- -- vehicle assembly plants in Mexico state and Sonora, and an engine plant
in Chihuahua.

Plant operators inspect and reinspect north-bound products and materials
being loaded onto 18-wheelers at the plants, and then seal the doors, said
planning director Raul Helguera.

"When there is a seal broken, Customs know the doors were tampered with"
after the truck left the plant, Helguera said.

Helguera also monitors the transportation companies that haul Ford products
and materials across the border, checking background, work records and
driving histories of the drivers.

As a result traffickers have put illegal narcotics onto only two Ford
shipments in the past eight months. Both times the truckers were at fault,
Helguera said.

Traffickers often hand off illegal drugs to truck drivers on the road from
the maquiladora to the U.S. border. But when the trucks reach the border,
their contents are often X-rayed.

Truck drivers crossing at the busy Yselta port of entry into El Paso said
some plants send scouts to ride with the drivers. One said his bosses clock
drivers' trips to make sure no one stops to pick up narcotics.