Drug Smugglers From Mexico Use Border Crossings

At San Ysidro alone, border agents aren't surprised if they grab as many as six or seven loads of drugs during an average day.

"On a yearly basis, we're going to deal with 75 million travelers, coming across the border," Director Flores said. "Drug smugglers feel there are opportunities to mix in with the general population, who are vastly compliant with what the laws are."


Smugglers aren't intimidated by the three hurdles in San Diego County or the nearly 700 miles of barriers currently built along the border. Instead, they target the numerous legal entry points to pass into the U.S.

Drug Smugglers From Mexico Use Border Crossings in Spite of Walls - NBC News

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The NBC article uses these facts to suggest that Trump's plans for a border wall are useless, the criminals will always win, and we should just give up.

I disagree. I see this as proof that our relationship with Mexico is good for them, and poisonous for us. They get jobs that Americans used to do, billions of dollars sent home from illegal immigrants, & billions in drug money, while we get higher crime, people needing free medical care and social programs, and millions hooked on drugs.

truthatallcost said:

The NBC article uses these facts to suggest that Trump's plans for a border wall are useless, the criminals will always win, and we should just give up.

I disagree. I see this as proof that our relationship with Mexico is good for them, and poisonous for us. They get jobs that Americans used to do, billions of dollars sent home from illegal immigrants, & billions in drug money, while we get higher crime, people needing free medical care and social programs, and millions hooked on drugs.

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This is why Mexico and other Latin/South American countries are mad. They don't want to lose the kickbacks and remittances and don't want those people [who are mostly of native decent] back in their countries.

truthatallcost said:

The NBC article uses these facts to suggest that Trump's plans for a border wall are useless, the criminals will always win, and we should just give up.

I disagree. I see this as proof that our relationship with Mexico is good for them, and poisonous for us. They get jobs that Americans used to do, billions of dollars sent home from illegal immigrants, & billions in drug money, while we get higher crime, people needing free medical care and social programs, and millions hooked on drugs.

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I think yes it's because of this drug trade that the wall will be useless which is why I support logical drug reform. It's not that the criminals always win but why spend money fighting and fighting them instead of getting people away from using drugs, or atleast decriminalizing a lot of them. Better treatment and education more available. Take away their income instead of them just finding ways to go around a wall and keep pushing their drugs on us.

americanwoman said:

I think yes it's because of this drug trade that the wall will be useless which is why I support logical drug reform. It's not that the criminals always win but why spend money fighting and fighting them instead of getting people away from using drugs, or atleast decriminalizing a lot of them. Better treatment and education more available. Take away their income instead of them just finding ways to go around a wall and keep pushing their drugs on us.

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We could test legalization for a period, and see what the results are. I'm not so sure that rates of addiction would decrease, but at least we could stop the violence in Chicago, end the incentive for street gangs, and cut down on drug overdoses from impure drugs that are made in a bath tub, or the jungles of Peru.

If drugs weren't an option for cartels, they aren't going to go away overnight however. They also enslave women in prostitution rings, and smuggle people as coyotes. If we were to legalize drugs, we have to be ready for the cartels to act out against us by increasing their prostitution and other businesses.

truthatallcost said:

The NBC article uses these facts to suggest that Trump's plans for a border wall are useless, the criminals will always win, and we should just give up.

I disagree. I see this as proof that our relationship with Mexico is good for them, and poisonous for us. They get jobs that Americans used to do, billions of dollars sent home from illegal immigrants, & billions in drug money, while we get higher crime, people needing free medical care and social programs, and millions hooked on drugs.

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In all fairness you can build a 50 foot tall wall and they will probably find a way to smuggle drugs across. I saw years ago local news showing mexican drug smugglers using medeival style catapults and trebuchets to launch drugs across the border rather than sending runners across, with parachutes that would deploy and were time delayed, while someone on their team on the american side would collect it.

Got to remember these are the same drug cartels that are building their own mraps to outgun the mexican military and police, the drug running business is so lucritive they can afford any means to improve to ensure their product makes it.

beerftw said:

In all fairness you can build a 50 foot tall wall and they will probably find a way to smuggle drugs across. I saw years ago local news showing mexican drug smugglers using medeival style catapults and trebuchets to launch drugs across the border rather than sending runners across, with parachutes that would deploy and were time delayed, while someone on their team on the american side would collect it.

Got to remember these are the same drug cartels that are building their own mraps to outgun the mexican military and police, the drug running business is so lucritive they can afford any means to improve to ensure their product makes it.

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We could use sanctions to disrupt the heroin production in Mexico, as well as Mexico's blatantly illegal production of methamphetamine, which is produced by receiving bulk shipments of raw ephedrine from China and Mexico.

NAFTA really got us into this mess. It opened the door for cartels to grow as big as they are today. Like the story says, 75 million people cross the US-Mexico border every year. There's just no way to adequately screen 75 million people.

As far as the cartels firepower, it doesn't help that our own government was supplying them with assault weapons. Which makes me think that high ups in government aren't really on our side at all, they appear to want the cartels to flourish.

truthatallcost said:

We could use sanctions to disrupt the heroin production in Mexico, as well as Mexico's blatantly illegal production of methamphetamine, which is produced by receiving bulk shipments of raw ephedrine from China and Mexico.

NAFTA really got us into this mess. It opened the door for cartels to grow as big as they are today. Like the story says, 75 million people cross the US-Mexico border every year. There's just no way to adequately screen 75 million people.

As far as the cartels firepower, it doesn't help that our own government was supplying them with assault weapons. Which makes me think that high ups in government aren't really on our side at all, they appear to want the cartels to flourish.

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Fyi ephedrine is not needed to make meth, meth is made with a chemical reaction, and more than just a single chemical can reproduce it. The goal of blocking ephedrine does not make it impossible, but aims to make it economically unviable. However to mexican drug smugglers, or even stateside meth cookers, the supply will exist if there is a demand, prices will just go up without their easy way of making it.

beerftw said:

In all fairness you can build a 50 foot tall wall and they will probably find a way to smuggle drugs across. I saw years ago local news showing mexican drug smugglers using medeival style catapults and trebuchets to launch drugs across the border rather than sending runners across, with parachutes that would deploy and were time delayed, while someone on their team on the american side would collect it.

Got to remember these are the same drug cartels that are building their own mraps to outgun the mexican military and police, the drug running business is so lucritive they can afford any means to improve to ensure their product makes it.

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Just wait til the cartels figure out they can buy drones at Best Buy.

Bodhisattva said:

Just wait til the cartels figure out they can buy drones at Best Buy.

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drones would be the ultimate delivery mechanism, especially if they had a self destruct that blew up the camera to keep it from being traced back.

By the time they figure out drones they will have some new way of delivery, heck maybe after they will train dolphins to deliver it.

beerftw said:

Fyi ephedrine is not needed to make meth, meth is made with a chemical reaction, and more than just a single chemical can reproduce it. The goal of blocking ephedrine does not make it impossible, but aims to make it economically unviable. However to mexican drug smugglers, or even stateside meth cookers, the supply will exist if there is a demand, prices will just go up without their easy way of making it.

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There was actually a shortage in the street Meth supply in the late 90's, which resulted from laws that made it tougher to buy cold medications and others that contained key ingredients.

During this time period, gang membership in Latino gangs dropped significantly. Who wants to be a gang member if you can't make money? It's not too cool to wear your McDonald's uniform around the hood you're supposedly controlling.

In the early 2000's, Mexico started importing the raw materials needed to make Meth, and the finished product hit the streets of the US.

Today, 85% of Meth consumed in the US comes from Mexico. The idea of the hillbilly cookin' Meth in his trailer park is overrated and something you'll only see on Breaking Bad.

truthatallcost said:

There was actually a shortage in the street Meth supply in the late 90's, which resulted from laws that made it tougher to buy cold medications and others that contained key ingredients.

During this time period, gang membership in Latino gangs dropped significantly. Who wants to be a gang member if you can't make money? It's not too cool to wear your McDonald's uniform around the hood you're supposedly controlling.

In the early 2000's, Mexico started importing the raw materials needed to make Meth, and the finished product hit the streets of the US.

Today, 85% of Meth consumed in the US comes from Mexico. The idea of the hillbilly cookin' Meth in his trailer park is overrated and something you'll only see on Breaking Bad.

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I hate Meth. I hate what it does to people and I hate what it turns them into. I would definitely support some kind of operative to get that off the streets. It's really hurting us all.

americanwoman said:

I hate Meth. I hate what it does to people and I hate what it turns them into. I would definitely support some kind of operative to get that off the streets. It's really hurting us all.

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It's gone from a trailer park drug in the 80's and 90's, to a drug that is used by all kinds of people. Mexico even has a problem with Meth now, as locals in Tijuana have become addicted to it. When it was just something that poorer whites did, it didn't receive much attention. Now it's like crack, something people across the board do, even some rich people.

truthatallcost said:

The NBC article uses these facts to suggest that Trump's plans for a border wall are useless, the criminals will always win, and we should just give up.

I disagree. I see this as proof that our relationship with Mexico is good for them, and poisonous for us. They get jobs that Americans used to do, billions of dollars sent home from illegal immigrants, & billions in drug money, while we get higher crime, people needing free medical care and social programs, and millions hooked on drugs.

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In this instance, NBC's conclusion is valid--considering that so much comes through points surrounded by walls, is it really rational or honest to say that more wall equals more security or less smuggling? Hell no it's not.

Considering that now Pablo Escobar's son has written a book claiming his father worked with the CIA, the big time smugglers will continue to succeed, no matter how many walls they build or how high they are. Considering that on the same Friday afternoon that the Monica Lewinsky story broke the CIA admitted that, after all was said and done, Gary Webb had been correct.

Intellectual honesty demands recognizing that the prohibition works against us, and for those on the inside.

truthatallcost said:

There was actually a shortage in the street Meth supply in the late 90's, which resulted from laws that made it tougher to buy cold medications and others that contained key ingredients.

During this time period, gang membership in Latino gangs dropped significantly. Who wants to be a gang member if you can't make money? It's not too cool to wear your McDonald's uniform around the hood you're supposedly controlling.

In the early 2000's, Mexico started importing the raw materials needed to make Meth, and the finished product hit the streets of the US.

Today, 85% of Meth consumed in the US comes from Mexico. The idea of the hillbilly cookin' Meth in his trailer park is overrated and something you'll only see on Breaking Bad.

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I seen it in person in cali, it was a passtime in socal to light a cigar drink a fine beer and sit on your porch to see if you could catch the methlab explosion that night.

They will make it anywhere, in recent years they have been even in rich white neighborhoods. Mexico makes most of it because ephedra is by far the cheapest way to make it, and they can import it. But like I said before if demand is high enough, there are other ways to make it and people will.

The drop was likely not from meth being impossible to make, but rather from costs going up needing to move to alternative methods. Likely people just switched to cheaper drugs, like crack when meth production dropped and prices rose. My cousin is a former tweeker, that judges continuously ordered him to stay in the meth capital of the world. He finally got out of prison and got a judge that allowed him to move out of that area with all his meth buddies who would shoot him if he did not do some meth because they might think he is a rat. He has been clean since then and straightened out his life.

But on the drug discussion, my cousin could show it quite possible. He would barter for things like propane gun bluing acetone etc, and would find ways to make meth out of anything, even though most were highly toxic, to a meth head it did not matter.