FALFURRIAS: DRUG BUST CAPITAL

FALFURRIAS CHECKPOINT -- The smugglers thought they had taken enough
precautions.

First, they vacuum-sealed the bricks of marijuana until the drugs looked
like packets of gourmet coffee. Then they smeared the plastic with a
sweet-smelling grease before wrapping the bricks with another layer of
clear plastic.

Finally, they stuffed the 208 pounds of marijuana among boxes of ripe
mangos in a yellow 18-wheeler, then sent their stash north on U.S. 281.

But, like 620 other drug shipments since October, the illicit cargo was
intercepted at the U.S. Border Patrol's Falfurrias checkpoint, the nation's
most productive off-border checkpoint in terms of illegal drug seizures.
Through February, the South Texas checkpoint has made almost as many
seizures as all the checkpoints in the states of California and Arizona
combined, according to Border Patrol records.

Compared with the June 5 seizure of $53 million worth of cocaine -- more
than most checkpoints find in a year -- the 208-pound bust on June 7 was
child's play. In the past six months the checkpoint has seized more than
127,000 pounds of cocaine and marijuana, worth $205 million on the street.

"We're known nationwide for drug seizures," said Eligio Pena, assistant
agent-in-charge at the Falfurrias checkpoint. "This is the drug capital of
the world."

Days and nights at the Falfurrias checkpoint are punctuated by idle
moments, when the checkpoint and highway are utterly quiet, and by moments
of near chaos, when the line of vehicles stretches for half a mile and
agents and drug dogs scramble to interview each passing car and truck.

In any given 24-hour period, 10,000 vehicles pass through the checkpoint, a
third of which are 18-wheelers. Just how many cars and trucks are carrying
illegal drugs is anyone's guess, officials say.

A Natural Route North

Agents in Falfurrias say that, over the years, catching drug runners has
become part of the culture at the checkpoint.

While the Border Patrol's main aim continues to be stemming illegal
immigration, the Falfurrias checkpoint has carved out a niche as the
undisputed king of drug busts.

Law enforcement agencies from as far away as Illinois and Missouri, as well
as other Border Patrol stations, send officers and agents to Falfurrias to
learn how their agents detect hidden compartments, size up nervous drivers
and use drug-sniffing dogs to find hidden stashes.

Officials point to a number of reasons to explain the success of the
Falfurrias checkpoint, located in a remote area of brush about 100 miles
north of the Mexican border and 100 miles southwest of Corpus Christi.

Pena says the checkpoint's location on U.S. 281 -- the main northbound
thoroughfare from McAllen -- has made it a natural byway for drugs coming
from the Rio Grande Valley. And unlike U.S. 77 to the east, which he
describes as a gantlet of state troopers, various narcotics task forces and
sheriff's deputies, U.S. 281 is relatively free of police until vehicles
reach the checkpoint.

"We're basically the only law enforcement out here," he said.

Terry Cooper, canine coordinator for the Border Patrol's McAllen sector,
says the border area south of U.S. 281 is more conducive to drug running
than other areas, with wide expanses of open brush and sparsely populated
land around McAllen and Rio Grande City.

Dogs Have Big Role

Pena said a key to the checkpoint's success is its use of drug-detecting
dogs, which now work in three shifts so there is at least one dog available
24 hours a day. Other checkpoints don't use dogs nearly as much, he said.

Pena said the Falfurrias checkpoint has a history of breaking new ground
with the dogs. The Border Patrol's first drug-sniffing dog made its debut
at the checkpoint in 1987.

Agent Tom Slowinski, who handled that first dog, "Barko," said the dogs
have transformed how drug work is done. "It's made things a lot easier and
quicker," he said.

Agents say the dogs have sniffed drugs out of almost every substance
smugglers use to mask the odor of their cargo, including ammonia, motor
oil, coffee beans, mustard, fabric-softener sheets, bushels of fruit and
the ubiquitous vacuum-sealed, grease-slathered plastic bags. Pena said the
dogs are rarely fooled by such attempts to confuse their noses because they
are able to smell multiple odors at one time. "They smell like we see," he
said.

A year ago, agents decided to use the dogs full time at the primary
inspection where they do a sniff of every vehicle. Before, the dogs were
brought in only to confirm an agent's suspicion once a vehicle was pulled over.

"It still amazes me every time a dog finds something," said Charlie Miller,
a canine handler whose dog, Basco, sniffed out the $53 million in cocaine
June 5. "It's like a kid watching a magician."

Supervisory agent J.D. Cabral, who has worked at the checkpoint since the
mid-1980s, said agents have developed a pride in seizing drugs that dates
back to a time 15 years ago when drugs were mostly an afterthought for the
Border Patrol.

Bigger Focus On Drugs

In the years before dogs, Cabral said, drugs played a minor role compared
with apprehending illegal immigrants, and agents would be lucky to find a
few ounces of marijuana under a seat.

But a core group of veteran agents in Falfurrias developed a knack for
finding dope, learning how to spot a nervous smuggler or an altered vehicle
containing hidden compartments. A driver who couldn't look an agent in the
eye, who gripped the steering wheel too tightly, whose head rode too close
to the roof of his truck or whose car smelled of Bondo and glue were signs
the agents learned to identify, Cabral said.

The veterans "instilled these interview techniques into us and taught us
about compartments," Cabral said. There was "a group of guys who were into
dope, and we started hitting it hard. We took pride in it. We were kicking
butt."

That sense of pride is instilled in each successive group of trainees at
the Falfurrias checkpoint, Cabral said. But no matter how proficient agents
are at ferreting out illegal drugs, smugglers in the multibillion-dollar
narco-traffic game keep changing tactics and strategies in their attempt to
evade the men in green.

Smugglers' Tactics

Agents say smugglers no longer take the stereotypical form of long hair,
tattoos and a junky car. Today, smugglers use a variety of covers for their
loads: elderly couples, pretty young girls who bat their eyelashes at
agents, families with small children, suited men in Mercedes-Benzes. Pena
says even priests and nuns have been caught carrying loads.

Smugglers also have learned intelligence and distraction techniques. Cabral
estimates that smugglers send people through the checkpoint daily with the
sole purpose of checking out how many agents are working or which drug dog
is on duty. That information is then radioed south.

Smugglers also send in decoy loads, usually a smaller amount of cocaine or
marijuana hidden someplace difficult such as the gas tank. The idea is for
the real load to follow a few minutes later while agents are preoccupied
with the decoy stash.

Then there is the never-ending race to come up with innovative hidden
compartments. Cabral said new compartments -- such as the roofs of
18-wheelers or inside drive trains -- come in waves until agents learn to
detect them.

And agents who depend on interview techniques must be on high alert when it
comes to seasoned smugglers, Pena said. Some will try to mask their
intentions by acting too friendly and telling agents that they're doing a
good job. Others go the opposite direction, acting belligerent and upset,
figuring agents wouldn't expect someone hauling a ton of marijuana to cop
an attitude.

For agents such as Miller, drug catching is the one part of the job that is
clear cut, where the rewards are tangible. When you bust a big load, Miller
said, the fruits of your labor are sitting in front of you in packets of
white powder and green leaf.

"That's the best part, taking the dope off the streets," he said, rubbing
Basco's ears. "You know that dope didn't reach those kids up there.

"As a father with kids in school, that hits home to me."