BORDER PATROL SETTING RECORD PACE ON MARIJUANA SEIZURES

WEST TEXAS - The United States Border Patrol is reporting record- setting
marijuana seizures for the current fiscal year with 50,000 pounds of the
drug worth $40 million found by agents in the past five months.

According to Pablo Caballero, the U.S. Border Patrol public affairs
specialist for the Marfa sector, the area is on pace for a "record- setting
year."

The current total of 50,000 pounds outweighs the pace for years past. In
2001, 65,701 pounds of marijuana were seized. In 2000, Border Patrol agents
found 65,988 pounds of marijuana, and in 1999, only 57,266 pounds were seized.

While 2002's fiscal year began Oct. 1, the seizures through March 12
brought in more marijuana in those five months than in all of fiscal year 1998.

Chief Patrol Agent Simon Garza said the figures are the result of agents'
hard work.

"Our agents are working very hard keeping our borders safe. The significant
seizures are a reflection of their work," Garza said.

Garza, however, would not allow comments from Border Patrol agents in
Midland Monday.

There is no indication whether the seizures are the result of more
marijuana being sent to the United States than in previous years.

Caballero said the Marfa sector of the Border Patrol is working closely
with local law enforcement agencies in West Texas.

Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter said although the Border Patrol
contingent of agents in Midland is smaller than in other areas, they
provide a working relationship with local law enforcement.

"I've never had them fail us," Painter said. "They pass on information to
us. We pass on information to them."

Painter said in Midland County, deputies have not seen an explosion of
seizures in the way Border Patrol agents have.

"There's just a lot of it," Painter said.

Caballero said recent unspecified "events" prove the effectiveness of the
local cooperation.

Such recent events have apparently yielded significant marijuana- related
cases. Between March 4 and March 11, 16 marijuana-related cases brought a
total of 10,506 pounds of seized marijuana with a value of more than $8.4
million.

Officials are attributing the high amount of seizures to a greater security
presence along the border in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Since then, officials said, the Border Patrol has undergone changes in the
way it guards the border between the United States and Mexico, bringing
more vehicle searches with more agents on duty.