DRUG SMUGGLERS BACK TO WORK ALONG BORDER

EL PASO, Texas (AP) -- Drug smugglers are getting back to business -- and
drug seizures are up sharply -- after a lull prompted by the stepped-up
security along the U.S-Mexican border that followed the terrorist attacks.

Investigators with the Customs Service and Border Patrol believe smugglers
are trying to push more drugs across the border to make up lost profits,
and are getting caught by the tighter security.

Before Sept. 11, most vehicles were waved through border checkpoints. Now,
since border officials went to the highest level of alert, nearly every
vehicle gets looked over. Inspections include an examination of the trunk
and the engine compartment,

In the two weeks immediately following the terrorist attacks, drug seizures
along the 1,962-mile U.S.-Mexico border fell 80 percent compared with the
same period last year. But the trend has since reversed.