UTEP students clung to one another and wept outside the Business Administration building Monday as they mourned the deaths of two students who were killed in Juarez last week. The students, Manuel Acosta Villalobos, 22, and Eder Diaz Otero, 23, were attacked by gunmen outside Diaz's house in colonia Rincones de Santa Rita about 8 p.m. Nov. 2. Their assailants fired 36 rounds, hitting the men multiple times, according to a Chihuahua state police report. The memorial service for Acosta and Diaz took place between UTEP's Business Administration building [continues 630 words]
Proposition 19 did not pass in the California elections last week. The proposition, if passed, would have given Californians over the age of 21 the right to possess up to one ounce of marijuana and smoke it in non-public areas as long as minors were not present. Arguments for legalizing marijuana in California were that the drug would help decrease the state's debt and decrease drug war violence. However, there is no substantial evidence that supports these outrageous claims. [continues 298 words]
Bedford and Euless have joined other Metroplex cities in banning the sale and possession of K2, the synthetic product that users smoke to get a high similar to marijuana. The Bedford City Council adopted an ordinance Oct 12 out of concern that the city might become an island in the midst of municipalities that banned K2, said Police Chief David Flory. "We didn't want to be the only ones who didn't have an ordinance, [becoming] a safe haven to do K2," Flory said. [continues 499 words]
The rush by numerous communities in the Big Country to ban the sale of synthetic marijuana has intensified, but Abilene officials are digging in their heels and hoping laws banning the sale of the substance will be enacted by state legislators in the 2011 session. During last week's City Council meeting, Mayor Norm Archibald encouraged residents to contact their legislators to consider a statewide ban on synthetic cannabis, known by brand names K2 or Spice. "I feel this issue could get priority treatment," Archibald said. [continues 1384 words]
Tunnels under the border between Mexico and the United States aren't really unusual. Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that since the early 1990s, 125 tunnels have been found at various points along the border. Seventy-five of those have been discovered in the past four years. The latest tunnel, running under the California-Mexico border, was busted Tuesday and 20 tons of marijuana was found on the U.S. side of the border and four tons turned up on the Mexican side. [continues 318 words]
A fellow with the Brookings Institution said Friday that younger, more out-of-control hit men working for Mexican drug cartels are one reason more massacres are taking place, including a recent attack on buses carrying maquiladora workers in Juarez. Vanda Felbab-Brown, a fellow in foreign policy at Washington-based Brookings, was the luncheon keynote speaker at a conference about manufacturing ties between Mexico and the United States hosted by the El Paso branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. [continues 621 words]
On Tuesday, prohibitionists once again managed to hold a fraying line when Californians defeated Proposition 19, which would have legalized the production, sale and use of small quantities of marijuana by people 21 or older. Though disappointed by the results, Prop 19 supporters have considerable cause for optimism. The approximately 46 percent of those who approved the measure was overweighted with younger voters. For them, legalization is a matter of when, not if. That assessment is supported by the ease with which Californians can already obtain cannabis legally at hundreds of medical dispensaries in the state and by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's recently signing into law a bill that reduces the penalties for marijuana possession from a misdemeanor to an infraction comparable to a traffic ticket. [continues 711 words]
The University of Houston was awash in marijuana when I got my MA (Sociology) in the '70s. It largely replaced alcohol among grad students - also at St. Thomas later. Hope grew after the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse reports of 1972 and 1973 laid out the facts so well, but stuff happens - read insanity, panic and propaganda. Zeke Barrera is right on many counts. Prop 19 in California - which was financed by my friend and former Houstonian, Richard Lee - is just the first step in a process. [continues 182 words]
The U.S. and Mexico are using an Internet-based system to help Mexican authorities continue their battle against violence and gun-trafficking by drug cartels. The system, an electronic tracing system called Spanish e-Trace, allows law enforcement agencies to submit firearm trace requests to the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' National Tracing Center, where agents can analyze trends in the movement of weapons to Mexico and other countries. It was designed to assist Mexican investigators who are tracing firearms known to originate in the U.S., according to a May 2010 State Department report. [continues 952 words]
El Paso will continue to suffer an inaccurate image as a violent city because of its proximity to Juarez until the federal government secures the border, Gov. Rick Perry said while campaigning Friday. Perry, in El Paso on the last day of early voting, said misconceptions about El Paso could be eliminated if the federal government helped Mexico in its war against drug cartels and increased law enforcement along the border. Local leaders have said that while El Paso is the second-safest large city in the nation, the cartel violence in Juarez has created a false impression about the city that could make it difficult to recruit business and tourism dollars. They said they need help from state officials to spread the word that El Paso is safe despite the chaos in its sister city. [continues 715 words]
He was called "Don Chuy," a narco-trafficker who swaggered in his Stetson, flashy gold jewelry and expensive cowboy boots. Don Chuy mastered obscenity-laced tough talk that stopped arguments, a stare that could disarm men and the attitude of a big-time player in border drug dealing. He carried a .380-caliber handgun in a boot. A backup gun dangled from a gold chain on his chest. It was a five-shot .22-caliber pistol so small that a police officer once missed it during a pat-down search. [continues 1404 words]
Tim Timmons once was a stalwart in the Church of Christ, a conservative Republican, a buttoned-down insurance executive with a busy life, a wife and three children. Slowly but surely, multiple sclerosis robbed him of that life. Today, at age 54, Timmons is mostly bedridden and rarely sees the outside of his Garland home. What he lacks in physical ability, however, he more than makes up for with his ardent support for legalizing marijuana for seriously ill people. In fact, he has become the poster boy for the medical marijuana movement in Texas. One organization has named a model law to set up a medical marijuana industry in Texas the Tim Timmons Compassionate Care Act. An Internet search quickly yields videos of Timmons smoking pot and daring politicians and cops to come arrest him. [continues 1590 words]
Schools across the nation take up the fight against youth alcohol and drug abuse with the annual Red Ribbon Week, which began Saturday and runs through Halloween. The week shares an anti-drug message with dress-up days and activities aimed at reaching kids of all ages. The valiant efforts of local schools in this ongoing battle are much appreciated. However, the best tool for keeping kids clean is right in their own homes. Vigilant parents offer the most effective anti-drug message and techniques, experts say. [continues 426 words]
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened. The violence in Juarez is something that is really destroying families. I really think that the violence needs to stop, and the president of Mexico should start acting and should be able to help his country to be better. This entire problem about the drug cartel that is going on is many children have lost one or even both of their parents. It is hard to experience the loss of a loved one because of people trying to live or to get money the easy way. [continues 79 words]
MEXICO CITY - If California voters approve a proposition calling for the legalization of marijuana in Tuesday's midterm elections, get ready for a domino effect in Mexico and the rest of Latin America. It is not likely to be immediate, but it will be hard to stop in the near future. Most of those I've talked to in political, academic and business circles here say that, if California's Proposition 19 is approved, it will be very hard for the Mexican government to keep up the U.S.-backed anti-drug policies related to cracking down on the marijuana trade. [continues 368 words]
If the shifting moral consensus of Americans was ever in doubt, look no further than Proposition 19. This proposition represents the single most groundbreaking stride in the legalization of marijuana, while it simultaneously represents a full out cultural shift of mindsets in Americans. The long-standing taboo against the evils of marijuana is slowly breaking. The glorification of marijuana is ever more prevalent in today's society, as shown heavily in Prop 19. California voters young and old are anxious to try and pass the proposition during the state's midterm elections. [continues 734 words]
AUSTIN -- Former first lady Laura Bush recalls the vibrant, safer Juarez that many newcomers to the border don't know. She often thinks about the "glamorous" city across the Rio Grande from El Paso that played host to her parents' first date. And, she remembers the childhood trips she took with her grandparents to the open-air markets. Now, she hopes for an end to the drug-cartel violence that has brought the city infamy for its carnage. "I am sorry that this sort of culture of violence has shown up in Mexico because that's really not the culture of the Mexican people," Bush said during an interview with the El Paso Times while in Austin last week. She was attending the Texas Book Festival, an event that she started 15 years ago when her husband, former President George W. Bush, was governor. [continues 548 words]
As if our coverage of continuing methamphetamine lab busts by the Angelina County Sheriff's Office were not enough, you only need to look at a few statistics to realize how much work we have to do in overcoming the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. - - Tobacco is linked to an estimated 440,000 deaths per year in America. - - Every year, abuse of illicit drugs and alcohol contributes to the death of more than 100,000 Americans. - - Environmental smoke kills 53,000 non-smoking Americans yearly and is the third-leading cause of preventable death. [continues 443 words]
The slayings of three people connected to the U.S. Consulate in Juarez prompted the U.S. government to deploy 200 law enforcement agents to El Paso earlier this year, according to a federal report obtained by the El Paso Times. Those agents played a part in a pilot program designed to help Mexico fight the cartel war in Juarez that has claimed more than 6,700 lives since 2008, said the report published by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City. [continues 680 words]
Here's an instance where the average citizens in Mexico are beginning to use resolve to fight back against the heavily armed drug cartels. Without bullets. The small town of Praxedis G. Guerrero, just south of eastern El Paso County, has nine women on a 13-person police force, and the new chief of police is a 20-year-old female university student. Marisol Valles Garcia, who took office Wednesday, said, "People trust women more. They are more sensitive ... Fear is always there. I think we are all scared." [continues 212 words]
EARLY, Texas-A message between old friends who hadn't been in touch for a while led to a drug arrest after the recipient of the "So do you smoke weed?" text turned out to be a police officer. Amanda Williams is a reserve officer with the Early Police Department. The Brownwood Bulletin reported Friday that Williams said she received the text message Tuesday asking about getting together to smoke some marijuana that the man had. Early said she had not spoken to the man in some time and he did not know that she's a law officer. Williams let police know that she agreed to meet the man at a park. Early police and Texas troopers were on hand to detain the San Angelo man, who faces a marijuana possession charge. Early is 120 miles southwest of Fort Worth. [end]
People have to realize that there's a limit to what the U.S. government can do for Americans caught up in the violence in Juarez. A group of Mexican businessmen recently asked U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, for more protection for people with dual nationalities who still go to Juarez or who have to flee the city. He was asked to see what could be done about having U.S. agencies in Juarez become more active in protecting U.S. citizens and residents working in that city. [continues 176 words]
Mexican President Felipe Calderon's plan for strengthening state police appears to be one logical way to reduce the country's epidemic of extortion and kidnappings. They are two of the offshoots of the ongoing war against drug cartels. The president spoke in Juarez this week; it was his third visit to our sister city this year and came as no end seems in sight to the drug cartels battling each other and law enforcement as the cartels fight to control the flow of drugs in this area of the border. [continues 311 words]
A group of Mexican businessmen pressed U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes on Thursday to do more to protect people with dual nationalities who flee Juarez or still go there. Members of La Red, an El Paso political group of Mexican professionals, asked Reyes, D-Texas, to implement an emergency system to contact U.S. law enforcement when kidnappings occur. Some professionals also pushed him to ask U.S. agencies in Juarez to become more involved in protecting U.S. citizens and residents working in Mexico. [continues 260 words]
Re: "Marijuana not without health risks - In legalization debate, the facts are often overlooked, says Itai Danovitch," Monday Viewpoints. Professor Danovitch repeats the same vague but ominous warnings about the health risks of marijuana that we've been hearing since 1937, when the idea that smoking pot was dangerous and addictive first gained widespread acceptance. Since he specializes in addictions, I can understand how Danovitch is predisposed to define things in those terms, but his article is contradictory. He labels the claim that "cannabis is not physically addictive" as misinformation, but in the next paragraph, he states that "addiction to marijuana does not cause dramatic physical dependence." [continues 120 words]
I'm a Reagan Republican and a middle-aged female completely uninterested in any kind of drugs - sans beer, which is much worse - and I feel strongly that marijuana should indeed be legalized. I have seen firsthand what daily marijuana use can do for a person and it is much less harmful to our bodies (in its unaltered form, of course) than prescription pills. Since we have a maniacal aversion to anything that has to be smoked in this society, I believe that has much to do with the fight against making it legal. [continues 131 words]
Itai Danovitch lists health problems he says will be faced by new users of marijuana in California if the drug is legalized. No avalanche of new users occurred in The Netherlands or Portugal when they decriminalized marijuana, or in U.S. states when they legalized marijuana for medical purposes. Nevertheless, for the sake of discussion, assume it happens in California. Who would the new users be? What is their drug of choice now? It is unlikely that the approximately 30 percent of Americans who do not use alcohol or tobacco would begin to use marijuana because it became legal. [continues 103 words]
Re: "Marijuana's safety," by Russ Jones, Wednesday Letters. Although the opinionated debate on marijuana goes on, the reality is that persons who drink marijuana teas, smoke marijuana or place tincture in their eye are looking for an escape from something. Why must they alter their mental status and metabolism? And continue to influence ours? As a teacher, clinical educator and previous friend of high-school smokers, I have seen students, patients and friends lose much from wanting a brief run-away. Factually, the effect of having an increased appetite due to smoking marijuana has only been seen in persons who use this menacing weed regularly. Party-taking practices an altered conscious state, and also takes up valuable time, space and money from tried medical and agricultural prescriptions and lands. [continues 90 words]
How are a hard-line conservative and a drug dealer the same? After all, one wants to keep drugs illegal and the other...wants to keep drugs illegal. "What?" you say. "How can that be? Drug dealers want drugs to be legal so they can run rampant, sell all the drugs they want and make millions." Unfortunately, what sometimes seems like common sense turns out to be untrue. To illustrate my point, here's a story. Say there's a small border town with five dominant drug dealers. One day, the town decides to crack down on these drug dealers because citizens feel they are hurting the population of the town. The police catch three of the five dealers. Does this mean that drug dealing dramatically drops? [continues 372 words]
Re: "Marijuana shouldn't be legalized," by Gayle M. Tippit, Sunday Letters. As one who has been a San Jose, Calif., police officer, narcotics detective, DEA task force officer, state and federal court-recognized expert in the psychological and physiological effects of drugs and narcotics and who has written programs for and treated hundreds in drug treatment programs, I am shocked by Tippit's statements. It cannot be backed up by evidence, such as police reports, or by scientific studies. I hope this officer has never testified in court regarding this issue. My experience in the field parallels that of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Administrative Law Judge Francis Young, who ruled that marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. Russ Jones, New Braunfels [end]
With all fairness, marijuana is not as bad as most think. Drinking alcohol is just as bad as smoking weed. You get "drunk" from drinking alcohol and "high" from smoking pot. If alcohol is a legal substance, marijuana should be. The key to both alcohol and marijuana is maturity. Knowing when to do it and when not to do it, when to stop and when to begin. We have alcoholics who drink alcohol and "pot heads" who smoke weed daily; it is the same scenario with a different product. Young people do not have the thought process on how to handle things that alter judgment. Why should one be acceptable in society and not the other? Alcohol was made illegal in the past, only to have created organized crime. If you could look at the number of adults who are successful now, but have smoked marijuana sometime in the past, you would be very surprised. Leesa Johnston, North Richland Hills [end]
In Legalization Debate, the Facts Are Often Overlooked, Says Itai Danovitch In the debate on legalizing marijuana, the health risks of marijuana are often overlooked. Legalizing marijuana will almost certainly lead to a decrease in its price and an increase in its use, according to a recent Rand Corp. study. And because no drug or medicine is without side effects, increased marijuana use will mean increased health risks. But what kind of risks? Supporters of legalization say marijuana is no more harmful than caffeine, whereas advocates of criminalization suggest that marijuana is highly toxic. Like other complex health issues, the truth lies somewhere in between. [continues 495 words]
Mexican President Felipe Calderon has a new plan to help quell the violence wracking his country. A Los Angeles Times article noted that Calderon is sending a plan to Congress that would do away with local law-enforcement forces. This would be part of a larger overhaul of the nation's police system. While this sounds like a drastic measure -- and it is -- it does have some merit and should be tried. Calderon said on Wednesday, "Municipal police are the most vulnerable, the easiest to find, the easiest to co-opt, the most subject to intimidation and, of course, vengeance. It's necessary to change course." [continues 261 words]
It is a known fact that many Mexican politicians have links to Mexican drug cartels. This also is true of Mexican army officers and police officials. Mexico is now a de facto narco-state and no longer exists as a sovereign country. Inasmuch as the drug cartels have extended their tentacles into the United States (Phoenix, Atlanta, and other U.S. cities have documented cases of Mexican cartel-related crime), it is likely that in the future the U.S. will have to sever ties with Mexico, unless the U.S. wants to deal with Mexican politicians who are nothing but "front men" for drug lords. Mexico has a culture of corruption that rewards dishonesty and its pervasive criminal element would love nothing better than to infiltrate the United States and it has financial wherewithal to do it. [continues 51 words]
Mexico's Chihuahua state has a new governor, and on Monday he pledged to seek peace, a scarce commodity in his state and particularly in the city of Juarez. In a speech released by the state, Gov. Cesar Duarte said, "We are set today to go through the rough road to restore peace in Chihuahua. In Juarez, our country is at stake." While that is the kind of talk people need to hear, it brings the question of how this is to be accomplished, particularly with Juarez generally acknowledged to be one of the world's most violent cities, if not the most violent. [continues 183 words]
Brian Cuban is a walking contradiction. As a recovering alcoholic and drug addict with 3 1/2 years of sobriety, he seems an unlikely spokesman for the nascent medical-marijuana movement in Texas. "I smoked pot once in high school," he said. "I don't smoke pot and never will. But if there are people who are suffering and this can help them, why not make it available?" Look closely and you can spot the resemblance to his billionaire brother, Mark. At 6-2 and 230 pounds, Brian is a big guy. And, like Mark, he speaks loudly and passionately about his beliefs. [continues 1495 words]
Your promotion of the latest idea in 45 years of drug prohibition is a disservice to readers. Every great-sounding idea has failed to make the smallest dent in Mexican drug operations. This limit on cash sales is the latest cruel hoax to give us the false hope that it might make a difference. While you act like a college football team's cheerleader, Northern Mexico is dying. Shame on you. You have never dared print a proven method to destroy the drug cartels, namely repealing drug prohibition. At least ex-President Vicente Fox has the courage to state the obvious. What is your excuse? Howard Wooldridge Dallas [end]
Officials at the U.S. State Department are recommending that some Merida Initiative money be held back until Mexico shows that it is making more of an effort to control ongoing and escalating violence problems in that country. Merida is a three-year plan that would give Mexico $1.4 billion to help in various phases of the fight against drug cartels. The money is to be given out in phases. But according to the agreement, up to 15 percent of the money can be withheld if human rights complaints in the country aren't being addressed. It seems fairly obvious that that is the case. [continues 293 words]
A Dallas television station was in our newsroom on Friday talking to reporters about why we venture into Juarez to report on El Paso's sister city. My take was this: "Are you afraid to cross into Juarez to report?" "No." "Why do you do it?" "Well, because we're journalists and reporting on significant stories concerning the border is what we do." A student from Georgetown University e-mailed similar questions this week for a paper he is writing. One of his was: [continues 452 words]
Despite growing public support for the decriminalization of marijuana, one Texan, Congressman Lamar Smith, and Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California are pushing the Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2010. The bill's language is allegedly so malleable that its critics are concerned it could be used to prosecute Americans for drug use that is legal abroad, but illegal domestically. The bill's authors stand by the legislation and refute this allegation. Smith and Schiff, while seeking to protect Americans, may be overstepping the bounds of acceptable foreign policy. [continues 594 words]
The Bootheel region of southwestern New Mexico and the adjoining desert of southeastern Arizona has been a weak link in the effort to secure our nation's southern border for some time. Border Patrol officials say that more than a quarter of the El Paso Sector's area classified as "uncontrolled" is in the Bootheel region. The tragic murder of rancher Rob Krentz in March, most likely by a drug trafficker who fled back across the border, has finally drawn attention to a problem that Krentz and his neighbors had been trying to alert the government about for years. [continues 310 words]
It seems that there is no end in sight to the violence in Juarez. That pessimistic observation has been borne out by experts recently, and it's not a pleasant prospect. An expert in the field of global organized crime, Edgardo Buscaglia, recently used a comparison with Colombia, which he said took approximately 20 years to extract itself from its drug-related problems. However, he said, Mexican President Felipe Calderon doesn't have the support in his country to do what needs to be done, such as arresting and prosecuting high-level, cartel-involved politicians and businesspeople. [continues 279 words]
Guns are the standard business equipment for warring drug cartels, so cutting into the supply of weapons smuggled into Mexico from the United States would seem to be a good idea. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives has been making attempts to do this. ATF just announced results of a 100-day effort of the Gun Runner Impact Team (GRIT): 174 firearms trafficking-related criminal investigations; seizure of approximately 1,300 illegally trafficked firearms and 71,000 rounds of ammunition; and drugs and currency, according to the ATF website. Now ATF is setting up teams in seven states, with the goal of stopping guns from getting into Mexico and into the hands of cold-blooded killers. [continues 200 words]
El Paso resident Pat Nance arrived at the Western Hills United Methodist Church on Saturday morning with a solemn purpose. She prayed for peace in Juarez. Nance was one of hundreds of people who attended a 24-hour prayer vigil that started Saturday morning at the church on Thunderbird Drive on the West Side. Ten prayer stations were set up around the altar and guided people in prayers for families, the community, the nation, the world and peace in Juarez At the Juarez station, maps were cut into smaller areas and people were asked to take a piece of the map and pray every day for that particular part of the violence-plagued city. [continues 255 words]
Mexico recognizes its 200th birthday today, and millions across the country celebrated on Wednesday night and into this morning. Unfortunately, in Ciudad Juarez, that wasn't the case. Citizens, by and large, stayed inside their homes at the urging of local officials, or they ventured into El Paso to celebrate at the Downtown San Jacinto Plaza. We were happy to have them. However, the fact that Juarez did not stage its own celebration due to the violence that continues on the city's streets raises questions about the future of Juarez and Mexico. [continues 234 words]
Mexico President Felipe Calderon has another plan to help thwart narco trafficking, and the country's lawmakers should back him up. Calderon wants a limit on big-ticket cash purchases to 100,000 pesos as a way of stopping money laundering. That's about $8,000 in U.S. currency. In June, the government announced a cap on the amount of U.S. currency that can be deposited or exchanged in Mexican banks. Both moves are necessary. It's estimated that between $19 billion and $29 billion in cash is smuggled from the U.S. into the hands of drug cartels in Mexico. [continues 324 words]
A Mexican journalist who was allegedly kidnapped by members of the Sinaloa drug cartel and then released is seeking political asylum in the United States. Alejandro Hernandez Pacheco, a cameraman for the Televisa network, and three other members of the Mexican media were kidnapped in July in Gomez Palacio, Durango. They were held captive for almost a week, allegedly tortured, starved and beaten. Their captors also threatened to kill them if their television stations didn't air videos that threatened Los Zetas, a rival drug cartel based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas. [continues 678 words]
Mexican flags waved, children tooted horns, fireworks boomed and mariachis played as a crowd of up to 10,000 people celebrated Mexico's 200th birthday Wednesday night in Downtown El Paso. The festivities in San Jacinto Plaza were larger than last year because it was Mexico's bicentennial and because many revelers preferred to celebrate the traditional "grito," or cry for independence, in El Paso rather than in violence-plagued Juarez. El Paso police, who had a heavy presence at the event, estimated the crowd to be between 9,000 and 10,000 people, compared with about 6,000 to 7,000 a year ago. The Mexican Consulate sponsored the festivities. [continues 444 words]
A reporter returns to a border town riven by a drug war. August 9 I've been dreading coming to Reynosa for weeks. I tell myself that if I stick with the immigration story I'm working on and don't do any reporting on the drug war, I'll be safe. Two of Mexico's most ruthless drug cartels-Los Zetas and the Gulf Cartel-are battling for control of this city and the surrounding state of Tamaulipas, a prized smuggling corridor. [continues 2420 words]
Despite extensive security on the U.S. side of the border and a vicious drug war in Juarez, drug traffickers continue to push their products into El Paso with little decline, reports show. U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports show that the travel patterns of drug traffickers are shifting. Those reports also show that the type of drugs crossing the border are shifting, too. The smuggling of methamphetamines has increased. Seizures of the substance is up from 2.7 pounds to 28 pounds in the past two years, according to a CBP report. And while the amount of cocaine entering the El Paso area hasn't changed, drug seizure statistics show that traffickers are moving less cocaine through the ports of entry and more through outlying areas of the El Paso sector, the report said. [continues 477 words]
Inside Texas
