DRUG SEIZURES INCREASING

Tight Security Also Making It Harder For Illegal Migrants

McALLEN, Texas -- The war against terrorism is giving an unexpected boost
to the war on drugs, according to federal agents on the southern border.

Between late September and late October, U.S. Customs agents in Arizona
seized almost five times as much marijuana as in the same period the year
before; seizures in West Texas and New Mexico climbed 82 percent.

Tighter border security implemented after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is
making it harder for traffickers to get drugs through ports of entry
between the United States and Mexico, experts say.

Since Sept. 11, customs agents have been searching all cars, and all
pedestrians' documents are checked. Previously, only some cars were
examined, and people often walked freely across bridges after waving an ID.

At the five border stations on California's southern border, the amount of
marijuana impounded rose 6 percent in October from the year before. Cocaine
seizures soared 35 percent during the same period.

Cause is uncertain

"Are [drug traffickers] throwing more drugs at us, or are we catching a
higher percent because we're at the highest level of security? The truth
is, we don't know. But the bottom line is, we're getting more drugs," said
Vincent Bond, spokesman for U.S. Customs in San Diego.

Drug traffic across the border initially nose-dived in the two weeks
following Sept. 11.

"Smuggling organizations, not being stupid, were aware of the difficulties
heightened security posed and apparently decided to wait it out," Bond said.

After several weeks, drug trafficking apparently resumed even though border
security hadn't eased.

"These guys have employees to pay and bosses who are demanding that dope
get to the U.S. market," said Dean Boyd, spokesman for U.S. Customs
Service. "They seem to have decided to take their chances, and do what they
have to do to get their drugs across."

One trend being seen in some areas is a shift in drug smuggling away from
ports of entry to more remote stretches of the border.

A bust every 4 hours

"We're having a major seizure every four hours," said Carlos Quevedo,
spokesman for the Border Patrol's McAllen section, which monitors most of
southeast Texas. "What we think is happening is, the drug smugglers are
desperate because we have so many agents on the river. They're trying new
routes, trying to come across in places where we never had drug seizures
before."

Between Oct. 1 and Nov. 5, marijuana seizures by the McAllen section Border
Patrol climbed 9 percent, while seizures in the El Paso, Texas, and Tucson,
Ariz., sections were up 18 percent and 136 percent, respectively, according
to data supplied by Quevedo.

In other areas, though, marijuana catches have dropped significantly, as
smugglers try new routes or hold off on making deliveries. For instance,
the El Centro border patrol in southeast California took possession of 483
pounds of marijuana between Oct. 1 and Nov. 5, down 87 percent from the
year-ago period.

Looking for a break

"We think the smugglers have been waiting for us to relax security, and for
things to get back to normal on the border, but that just hasn't happened,"
said Roger Maier, spokesman for U.S Customs in El Paso, where inspectors
found 146 pounds of cocaine in a car Oct. 30.

Heightened border security is also slowing illegal immigration.

"We have seen a very significant decrease--an 80 percent drop--in illegal
immigration since the attacks," said Lauren Mack, spokeswoman for the
Immigration and Naturalization Service in San Diego.

The Tucson and Yuma INS sections in Arizona have seen similar falloffs in
immigrants trying to cross the border illegally or use false documents,
said Virginia Kice, an INS spokeswoman.

Every person crossing the border at ports of entry, including U.S.
citizens, now has to show a photo ID, and at San Diego crossings they're
going through a metal detector installed after Sept. 11. Smuggling people
across hidden in cars or trucks has come to a virtual standstill with much
more intensive vehicle checks: Since the attacks, that type of fraud has
dropped 90 percent, Mack said.

Also, because far more computer checks are being made routinely on people
passing through the border, more criminals and fugitives are being caught.
Mack said 131 people have been apprehended since the attacks, compared with
500 for all of 2000.