THE SOUTH TEXAS SPIGOT

Although officials say it's hard to pinpoint what percentage of illegal
drugs comes up from Mexico on U.S. Highways 77 and 281, the Drug
Enforcement Administration reported in 1999 that 64 percent of the drugs
seized within the country came from South Texas.

The Border Patrol checkpoints along those highways dwarf the nation's other
checkpoints in terms of drug seizures.

In 2000, agents at the Falfurrias checkpoint on U.S. Highway 281 seized
more cocaine and marijuana than all the checkpoints in Arizona and
California combined.

Over the past year, the Sarita and Falfurrias checkpoints have seized more
than 150,000 pounds of marijuana and more than 8,000 pounds of cocaine,
worth more than $375 million.

Such numbers don't take into account the drugs seized by the police
departments, sheriff's departments, Department of Public Safety units and
narcotics taskforces along the highways.

Jaime R. Garza, commander of the South Texas Specialized Crimes and
Narcotics Task Force, said drugs also flood north on the Intracoastal
Waterway. "It's just everywhere," he said. "We are inundated with this
problem. It's so vast you can't even imagine."