Pubdate: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Copyright: 2010 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Contact: http://www.signonsandiego.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386 Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area. Author: Leslie Berestein, Union-Tribune Staff Writer DRUG SMUGGLERS' CREATIVITY GROWS Produce Truckers Increasingly Used At the Otay Mesa cargo port, U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspector Eiichiro Ninmiya checked loads of goods last week with his partner, Cora. Hidden among truckloads of peppers, bananas, toilet paper and medical supplies entering from Mexico, customs officers have been finding another type of import. With drug cartels becoming increasingly creative in evading border authorities, it has become commonplace to find drugs embedded among the truckloads of goods that move each day through the nation's ports of entry. Two weeks ago, inspectors at the Otay Mesa cargo port found more than 3,800 pounds of marijuana hidden in a shipment of peppers and green beans. A few days later, they found a ton of pot stashed in a load of bananas. Although the phenomenon isn't new, recent drug seizures in fruit and vegetable shipments indicate that traffickers may be targeting produce companies, said Jose Garcia, deputy special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego. Smuggling trends are cyclic, he said, with traffickers using methods that show the best chance for success. When they target cross-border cargo, drug cartels aim for the weakest link, Garcia said. Often it is truck drivers or others in the supply chain. Although their tactics include threats of kidnapping or worse, very often the traffickers present a bribe that is irresistible, he said. "They will get a driver who like everybody else is between a rock and a hard place, and can't make ends meet or whatever," Garcia said. "People have to realize that these folks are experts at exploiting human weaknesses. They will plant this seed, and they will make it work for them." Under the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mexican trucks that enter through San Diego are allowed to travel up to 25 miles north of the city limit. They typically unload their goods at a warehouse near the border for U.S. truckers to haul north. A pilot program temporarily allowed a small number of Mexican trucks to make deliveries farther north; the Obama administration has expressed interest in renewing the program. Within the border region, cargo trucks are used to move drugs in large quantities. The largest single drug seizure made by U.S. Customs and Border Protection last year was more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana, hidden in a secret compartment built into a tractor-trailer loaded with toilet paper. Drug shipments are even found hidden in trucks that otherwise appear to be empty. "Everybody is susceptible," said Rosa Hernandez, director of the Otay Mesa cargo truck facility, through which more than 684,000 trucks passed going north last year. "We've had different types of narcotics in loads of fish, mattresses, plaster of Paris, concrete furniture, perishables, etc." In fiscal 2009, which ended Sept. 30, inspectors detected drugs hidden in 43 trucks headed north through the Otay Mesa facility, the nation's sixth-busiest for cargo. More than half of the trucks were otherwise empty; the rest of the loads varied. In the previous year, 35 trucks were found to contain drug shipments. About 79 tons of drugs were seized at the facility in those two years. Since Oct. 1, nine trucks have been found to be transporting drugs. Smuggling via cargo truck is one of many ways in which drugs are moved across the border, including by passenger car, on pedestrians who tape it to their bodies, in illicit shipments brought in between ports of entry, and sometimes by people carrying it in backpacks. More recently, Baja California smugglers have moved drug shipments, as well as people, up the coast by boat. Importers say they have become increasingly concerned about falling victim to traffickers. "As you start putting pressure and clamping down on the more traditional ways of smuggling, you start seeing the creativity of the drug trade," said Allison Moore, a spokeswoman for the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, an importers trade group in Nogales, Ariz. Customs officers in Nogales last week detected nearly 3,500 pounds of pot stashed in a trailer carrying squash. "The big challenge here is staying ahead of the curve," Moore said. As a protective measure, companies have begun sealing loads in Mexico when they leave a factory or packing house, using a system of numbered metal or plastic seals. If broken, the only way to replace them is with a seal that has a different serial number, making any tampering evident. The use of Global Positioning Systems is increasingly common, Moore said, as is the use of temperature gauges that can tell when a truck is opened by recording a change in the inside temperature. This is especially common with trucks carrying produce, which are often climate-controlled. Six years ago, U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched a voluntary program in which enrolled companies use such methods to keep control over their supply chain and lower the risk of tampering. About 25 percent of the trucks that come through Otay Mesa have seals in place, and the seals are always inspected, Hernandez said. According to the agency, all truck drivers are interviewed by customs officers as they prepare to head north, but only those trucks that raise suspicions are subject to further inspection. These trucks are screened by X-ray, unpacked and searched by officers and dogs, according to the agency. Empty trucks are X-rayed as a routine, an agency spokeswoman said. Companies have come up with their own security measures. In addition to sealing its trucks and using temperature gauges, one San Diego-based importer of fruit and vegetables from Mexico takes the extra step of not leaving any unused space when packing the trucks. "We work really hard to minimize the risk, but it is a challenge," said Mark Munger, vice president of marketing for Andrew & Williamson Fresh Produce. "The moment that a truck leaves our Mexico packing facilities, we know how many boxes and pallets are in the truck. Once we arrive in the U.S., the same amount has to come off. If there is a discrepancy, that is a red flag for us." One obvious disadvantage to some of the security measures being employed is that they only detect a breach after it has occurred, said Rene Romero, a customs broker in Otay Mesa. Still, importers have an incentive to do their best, because a company's reputation can be seriously damaged if one of its trucks is caught being used for smuggling. "Most companies are trying to comply," Romero said. "They're trying to lower their risk of being manipulated with contraband, because nobody wants to be associated with that. The list of companies that have been manipulated is incredible. Heck ... they're catching drugs all the time. Everything they catch doesn't hit the press." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake