Pubdate: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 Source: Wall Street Journal (US) Copyright: 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Contact: http://www.wsj.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/487 Author: Cam Simpson Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Mexico Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/drug+cartels Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Felipe+Calderon Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/people/Obama Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/Laredo U.S. PLEDGES TO STEM FLOW OF GUNS TO HELP MEXICO President Barack Obama on Thursday told Mexican President Felipe Calderon that the U.S. would stem a flow of weapons across the border into Mexico. But while Washington has spent more than $30 billion since the early 1990s to keep illicit goods and illegal immigrants from entering the U.S., it has had virtually nothing in place to check -- let alone stop -- what is flowing out. Mexican authorities have long pressed the U.S. to do more to stop the southbound trafficking of American-procured weapons, dubbed the "Iron River." But just how little the U.S. has done in the past is on vivid display at border crossings in Laredo, Texas, a town perched on the northern bank of the Rio Grande. A recent internal government assessment of the gun trade named Laredo as a top pipeline for Mexican drug cartels. Nearly six million passenger vehicles, 1.6 million trucks, 3.8 million pedestrians and nearly 40,000 buses crossed the border in Laredo last year, making it one of the busiest transit points in the nation. At Laredo's biggest international bridge, checking vehicles for Mexico-bound contraband is such a foreign concept that the U.S. government doesn't even own the six outbound lanes. They belong to the city. The only infrastructure dedicated to stopping motorists heading south is a toll gate, so Laredo can collect $3 for every passing vehicle. It is the same at the nearby crossing for pedestrians, where the toll is 75 cents. "Our resources and our equipment are set up to do the northbound examinations," said Eugenio "Gene" Garza, the Laredo port director for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Although Mr. Garza has one of the few permanent teams conducting outbound checks along the 2,000-mile border with Mexico, he doesn't have staff for round-the-clock examinations, which he said are crucial to making a difference. "The key to outbound enforcement is you have to do it 24/7," he said. "That has been the key. When our officers work it, they get these seizures. But, you know, we need to be able to do the same inspections southbound that we do northbound." Outbound enforcement led to an average of just 183 weapon seizures at all federal ports along the Southwestern border in each of the past four years, according to internal U.S. government data seen by The Wall Street Journal. The assessment estimated that to be less than 1% of the total number of arms flowing south. Even after Mr. Obama's administration said last month that it would boost enforcement, local police are often the ones who do the checking. That was the case from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. one day last week, when the nation's outbound enforcement in Laredo boiled down to Detective Arturo Galvan and another officer, who were aided by a flashlight and battered orange traffic cones. Just past sunset, as they tried to spot and stop suspect vehicles amid streams of southbound cars and pickup trucks, an automated license-plate scanner flagged the tag of a wanted felon, a man identified as "armed and dangerous." The scanner is the only piece of gear focused on vehicles leaving the U.S., but Laredo police working the bridge don't have access to its data because it is operated by federal agents. Mr. Galvan learned of the hit when a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent scampered toward him from a distant booth on the federal side of the bridge, where 12 lanes of traffic lead into the U.S. The luxury sport-utility vehicle was already gone. It would be difficult to imagine a similar scene across the yellow curb dividing the two sides of Laredo's bridge. Every vehicle coming into the U.S. passes through a radiation-detection portal. Every driver faces an agent. Every tour bus is emptied of passengers and luggage, before it is checked by dogs or scanned by a huge X-ray machine permanently mounted on a flatbed truck. Soon, electronic scanners will read travel documents and the faces of the travelers holding them. Similarly stringent efforts are apparent at Laredo's port for commercial truck traffic, known as the World Trade Bridge. There, inbound tractor-trailers roll into cement buildings constructed to house massive X-ray machines, or get offloaded by hand in the search for contraband. To boost outbound enforcement, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano plans to deploy more license-plate scanners along the border, more temporary teams and more X-ray machines. But the police in Laredo, who know the local turf well because they are battling a plague of vehicle thefts, say only an around-the-clock presence will make a real difference. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake