FRONT LINE OF THE DRUG WAR

Falfurrias Checkpoint Paces Nation

Falfurrias Checkpoint - The smugglers thought they had taken enough
precautions.

First, they vacuum-sealed the bricks of marijuana until they 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, and sent their stash north on U.S. Highway 281.

But, like 620 other drug caches since October, the illicit cargo was
intercepted June 7 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 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 to the June 5 seizure of $53 million worth of cocaine - more than
most checkpoints find in a year - the 208-pound bust was child's play. In
the last 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.

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 dogs to sniff out 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. Highway 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. Highway 77 to the
east, which he describes as a gauntlet of DPS 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 the cities of McAllen and Rio Grande City.

Drug Dogs

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

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

Agent Tom Slowinski, who handled that first dog, "Barko,'' said the canines
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, the checkpoint decided to use the dogs full-time at the primary
inspection where they do a sniff of every vehicle. Before, the dogs were
only brought in 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 load 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 busting drugs that dates
back to a time 15 years ago when drugs were mostly an afterthought for the
Border Patrol.

Focusing On Drugs

In the years before dogs, Cabral said, drugs played a minor role compared
to 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 the signs of 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 (veteran agents) instilled these interview techniques into us and
taught us about compartments," Cabral said. "There were 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 multi-billion dollar narco-traffic game keep changing
tactics and strategies in their attempt to evade the men in green.

Smuggler 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 have also learned intelligence and distraction techniques. Cabral
estimates 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 like 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 - like the roofs of 18-wheelers
or inside drive trains - come in waves until agents learn to detect them.

Tangible Results

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 how good a job they're
doing. 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 like Charlie 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 says, 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."