Via the CSM: Record drug seizures on US-Mexico border
Seizures of illegal drugs – from marijuana to heroin – are on the rise along the US-Mexican border again this year, breaking the previous record for major busts set just last year.
“We’re overwhelmed with marijuana,” says Anthony Coulson, assistant special agent in charge of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Tucson. “We passed last year’s record about two months ago.”
Marijuana is the most-seized drug, followed by cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, Mr. Coulson says. “All of them are trending up.”
While seizures are up in part owing to increased border security, such increased seizures have historically had more to do with increased levels of supply than anything else. Indeed, this was, as the story notes, a good year for the crops in question, which further suggests that the main variable here is increased availability of the products.
Whenever we seize large amounts of drugs, some take this to mean that we have increased our interdiction capabilities, and therefore that we are making progress. However, the records for seizures constantly fall and the supply of the products in question continue unabated.
