Battle against drug smuggling continues

By CELINA ALVARADO , LAREDO MORNING TIMES

Ongoing warfare with rival drug cartels across the border seemed to have quieted down this year, but the amount of drugs entering through the border and moving through the streets of Laredo – by any means possible - is ever-growing, officials said.Some 165 tons of narcotics, worth $140 million which failed to make their way through Laredo's four international bridges this fiscal year, is proof of this ever-growing trend.

That is how much marijuana, cocaine, meth and heroin Mucia Dovalina, chief CBP officer and uniformed public affairs liaison, said was intercepted from Oct. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007.

Finding the drugs was no easy feat. "I don't have any earthly idea how they do it, but they package the drugs very well," Dovalina said, noting that drugs have been found in the most unusual places.

"We've found drugs strapped on people's bodies, hidden within their shoe soles, inside religious statues - you name it, we've seen it," she said, adding drugs are often inserted into such things as car engines, tires, vehicle wall paneling, gas tanks and a multitude of other compartments.

Dovalina said the department saw 3,149 pounds of cocaine and 36,427 pounds of marijuana this year, which was "way higher" than last year.

However, other types of drugs rarely seen in the Gateway City have also threatened to take a foothold lately.