MEXICAN DRUG SMUGGLERS BOOSTING BORDER SHIPMENTS

Stepped-up enforcement along the U.S.-Mexico border -- including Calexico's
port of entry -- immediately following the terror attacks of Sept. 11 had
cut heavily into the drug trade.

But more than a month after the attacks, the border drug business is again
on the rise -- impatient smugglers have begun to move their supplies. "They
have payrolls to meet like anyone else, and they know there's a market on
this side of the border," said San Diego-based U.S. Customs spokesman Vince
Bond.

Marijuana and other drugs that are smuggled across the border often make
their way through the Imperial and Coachella valleys to Los Angeles.

Seizures: Drug seizures from late September through Saturday were nearly
double the total in the two weeks following the attacks on New York and
Washington, D.C.

From Sept. 30 to Oct. 13, U.S. Customs agents made 105 drug seizures,
compared to 63 from Sept. 9 to Sept. 22, said customs officials.

The new trend of seizures are a direct result of the ongoing Level-One
alert, the agency's highest security response, Bond said.

That means agents are conducting more inspections and searching more
vehicles at each of the five southwest ports of entry.

The numbers also seem to show that more smugglers are trying to move their
shipments across the border.

"They are trying to blend like a needle in a haystack," Bond said of the
smugglers. "The haystack is the thousands of motorists entering the United
States."

But a heavier government presence at the Southwest's five points of entry
still made a difference in September compared to the same time last year,
according to U.S. Customs figures.

During September at the points of entry in San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate,
Calexico and Andrade, U.S. Customs agents made 186 marijuana seizures
valued at an estimated $10.3 million, compared to 309 seizures valued at
about $15.6 million during the same period last year.

Local impact: For local narcotic agents, however, it's business as usual,
said one Palm Springs drug agent. "We have heard about what's happening at
the border, but it really has not changed anything around here," said Palm
Springs Narcotics Task Force Agent Greg Jackson. "I don't think any
narcotic agents have seen a drop in the amount or price of drugs that are
on the streets."