Pubdate: Fri, 20 Jun 2014
Source: Washington Post (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Post Company
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/mUgeOPdZ
Website: http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/491
Authors: Joshua Partlow and Nick Miroff
Page: A8

DRUG SEIZURES DOWN AS MIGRANT FLOW RISES

U.S. Agents on Border With Mexico Diverted to Handle Human Wave

McAllen, tex. - With the Border Patrol distracted by a surge of 
Central American migrants crossing into south Texas, Mexican cartels 
have had an easier time smuggling illegal drugs across the border, 
according to agents and state officials here.

The arrival of large groups of women and children on the U.S. side of 
the Rio Grande is pulling agents away from their patrol stations 
elsewhere along the border, creating gaps in coverage that the 
traffickers can exploit, according to Chris Cabrera, the Border 
Patrol union representative here.

The smugglers wait on the southern banks of the Rio Grande as migrant 
groups as large as 250 wade across at dusk and turn themselves in to 
the Border Patrol, he said. Then groups of single men proceed to 
cross under cover of darkness, hoping to slip through.

"After that they send over the dope," Cabrera said, with U.S. 
officers too busy to stop it.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) and Gov. Rick Perry (R) have 
echoed the complaints. In a letter this month to Department of 
Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, Abbott asked for $30 million 
for law enforcement officers to fill in the gaps because "we have 
grave concerns that dangerous cartel activity, including narcotics 
smuggling and human trafficking, will go unchecked because Border 
Patrol resources are stretched too thin."

The most recent statistics from the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Administration (DEA) show that narcotics seizures have fallen across 
the entire border with Mexico this year, with the drop being larger 
in Texas than the average.

In Texas, combined seizures of marijuana, cocaine, heroin and 
methamphetamine fell by 34 percent - from 374,812 to 246,976 
kilograms - between Jan. 1 and June 14 compared with the same period 
last year. Seizures in Arizona and California fell by 26 percent in 
each state. The decline was greatest in New Mexico - 62 percent - and 
the overall amount of drugs captured was also far lower than in other states.

DEA officials caution that it is too early to say whether the rush of 
Central American migrants is responsible for the falling drug 
interdiction numbers, noting that the biggest narcotics loads in 
Texas are typically seized from vehicles at highway checkpoints 
farther north, not on the banks of the Rio Grande.

As the humanitarian crisis intensifies, U.S. officials are raising 
the pressure on their Mexican and Central American counterparts to 
halt the flow of migrants, many of whom are driven by violence, 
poverty and the perception that they will be allowed to stay if they 
reach U.S. soil. Secretary of State John F. Kerry raised the issue 
during a recent visit to Mexico. And Vice President Biden was headed 
to Guatemala on Friday to discuss a tightening of that country's 
border with Mexico.

"Even if the VP says, 'Don't come,' it's going to be a tough sell," 
said Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin America program at 
the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington. There is a sense in these 
countries that "this is your big chance. If you want to get into the 
U.S., now is the time."

But migrants can cross the Mexico-Guatemala border easily, often in 
plain sight of Mexican checkpoints. The boundary is in a sparsely 
populated region of thick jungle and mountains and is lightly 
patrolled, without the high-tech scanners, drones or imposing walls 
used on the U.S. border. The Mexican government does not seem 
interested in or capable of investing heavily to militarize its 
southern border, particularly with its security forces fighting drug 
cartels in several parts of the country and the challenge of Central 
American migration largely viewed as a problem for its wealthier 
northern neighbor.

"We're not going to do the work of the U.S. on the southern border," 
a senior Mexican official said on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.

Mexico eased its immigration enforcement with a 2011 law that granted 
migrants new rights and no longer made it a crime to enter the 
country illegally. Mass kidnappings and other attacks against 
migrants by criminal gangs have emboldened activist groups to push 
Mexican officials to further expand protections for those transiting 
the country en route to the United States.

Amalia Garcia Medina, a leftleaning congresswoman who is the head of 
the migration commission in Mexico's lower house, said in an 
interview that she has proposed the creation of a "migrant visa" that 
would give U.S.-bound travelers safe passage and protection from 
deportation by the Mexican government for 30 days. A similar 
legislative proposal three years ago failed to pass.

Mexican immigration officials are among the lowest-paid law 
enforcement officers in the country, and the federal government 
cannot afford to significantly tighten up the border, said Gustavo 
Mohar, a former senior Mexican immigration official.

"The government doesn't have the resources," he said. "And as you 
have proven in the U.S., you have invested billions of dollars in the 
Mexico-U.S. border, literally, and still people are able to avoid it."

Gabriela Martinez in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom