U.S. Customs to crack down on border drug traffic

By Staff -- Logistics Management, 1/1/1998

If you think there are long lines at the U.S.-Mexico border now, just wait. The U.S. Customs Service is about to step up its drug-interdiction efforts on the southern border, a move that will include more inspections of commercial vehicles and cargoes. That is likely to increase delays for cargo entering the United States from Mexico significantly, top U.S. Customs officials recently told executives of U.S., Canadian, and Mexican trucking companies.

Although he did not say it in so many words, acting U.S. Customs Commissioner Sam Banks's message to attendees at the North American Transportation Alliance's annual meeting in Washington was clear: Drug interdiction, not trade facilitation, will be the agency's Number One priority. That means more inspections, more trailer unloading, and more cargo and vehicle drilling, whether carriers like it or not, he warned. "There are a lot of people out there who don't care how long those lines are or how much we delay your shipments. They only care about stopping drugs," he said, alluding to continuing pressure from Congress.

Banks spoke frankly, admitting that drug-enforcement agencies were caught by surprise when Colombian drug traffickers shifted operations to Mexico after U.S. authorities tightened security in Florida. Now they are playing catch-up: "We didn't know the Mexican drug cartels would become so powerful. I think we're all paying the price for that lack of foresight," he said.

And it is a high price indeed. Michael Lovejoy, director of anti-smuggling programs for the U.S. Customs Service, told the group that in fiscal year 1997, his agency seized more than one million pounds of illegal drugs entering the United States--a number that represents a fraction of what actually crosses the border each day.

To make any kind of a dent in the flow of drugs, Banks said, agents need to inspect a minimum of 25 percent of trucks arriving from Mexico. That's an unrealistic goal with the resources currently available: At Laredo alone, that would mean inspecting 1,000 trucks per day, he noted.

Banks appealed to the motor carrier executives to collaborate with his agency to develop ways to prevent drugs from entering the United States via commercial vehicles. "It's in your interest to work with us. If you leave it to the government to solve this issue, we're going to deal with it by more inspections and more drilling. There's a better way to do it," he said.

None of the motor carrier executives disputed the extent of the problem or the need to resolve it. But they were worried about the potential economic disruption the plan could cause. Daniel Einwechter, president of Canadian truckload carrier Challenger Motor Freight, said he felt confident he was speaking for many in the room when he said, "I'm scared to death of what this could do. It could have deadly results not just for the transportation industry but also for North American consumers."