Can Cocaine Be Smuggled Past the Border?

Crossing the American border in the hopes of living in the United States is the goal of many, as proved by the number of immigrants, both legal and otherwise, that enter the United States. Unfortunately, the American Border Patrol often has to deal with those that illegally cross the bordercrimes

Technically, once drugs are found in the possession of the illegal immigrants, the Drug Enforcement Administration takes over the case from the American Border Patrol. But illegal immigrants are not the only ones who try to smuggle drugs across the American border. An investigation by the American Border Patrol lead to the arrest of two women with roughly 50 pounds of cocaine in their possession. One of the individuals was a citizen; the other was a citizen of Mexico with a valid Border Crossing Card.

American Border Patrol has assumed that individuals who are citizens or have valid visas are actually very likely to try to smuggle drugs across the American border, believing that they will not be the target of the American Border Patrol due to their legal status. Border news stories show that this is not the case; in fact, many citizens accept bribes in order to smuggle drugs or illegal immigrants over the American border.

Even corrupt members of the American border patrol have been known to take bribes for helping to smuggle drugs across the American border. Many individuals who attempt to smuggle drugs into the United States fail because of the checkpoints that are set up to investigate individuals. In this investigation, the van containing the two women and the drugs was searched and the 50 pounds of cocaine was found hidden under a secret panel behind the driver's seat of the minivan.

The value of the cocaine that was fond on the two women was worth over $1.5 million and weighed in at exactly 49.8 pounds. The vehicle that the two women were driving was confiscated, as stipulated by federal law and American Border Patrol protocol.

Vehicles are inspected very carefully by the American Border Patrol due to the fact that many are equipped with special compartments to hide drugs or weapons. The K9 units that the American Border Patrol uses are also very helpful in finding drugs no matter how carefully the drugs may be hidden as individuals try to cross the American border.

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