Smugglers Turn To Mail To Ship Drugs
August 8, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
MIRAMAR, Fla., Aug. 8 (UPI) — With increased security and violent drug wars at the Mexican border, smugglers are turning to the mail to ship drugs, officials say.
Increasingly, smugglers are relying on both the U.S. mail and commercial carriers, which they see as posing less risk than crossing the border with trailer-loads of drugs, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports
“As the Border Patrol increases security on the border, it leads to smugglers using different tactics,” said Postal Inspector Blad Rojo, based in Miramar, Fla.
“You know you can put it in the mail and it’s going to get there. But we don’t want the criminals to exploit the efficiency of our postal services.”
As Mexican drug dealers cross the border to mail drugs, many marijuana and cocaine shipments are now coming from the Southwest part of the United States, Rojo said.
The Sun-Sentinel reports intercepted shipments of marijuana have remained level or dropped nationwide since 2009 but increased in Florida.
Nationally, authorities intercepted 43,564 pounds of marijuana in 2009, 35,773 last year and 23,758 through June of this year. In Florida, the amount rose from 2,158 pounds in 2009 to 2,789 last year and 3,368 through June.
Interceptions of cocaine have been increasing nationwide and in Florida, where authorities intercepted 37 pounds in both 2009 and 2010 and 44 pounds through June.
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