Stopping drug traffic no easy task on border

Smugglers go to great lengths to conceal contraband

It’s amazing to see the lengths smugglers will go to bring drugs across the border into the Yuma area.

On April 13, a mom was arrested while trying to smuggle cocaine through the U.S. Port of Entry at San Luis, Ariz. The drugs were taped to her 12-yearold daughter’s torso, and discovered by a drug-detecting canine.

On April 6, a 50-year-old man was arrested after agents found methamphetamine hidden in his bicycle frame. The man was attempting to enter the U.S. through the San Luis Port of Entry, when once again, a canine alerted agents to the drugs.

On March 29, the arrest was of a 19-year-old man who had 2.5 pounds of cocaine stuffed into the front of his pants. He too was caught at the San Luis Port of Entry.

The attempts are seemingly endless. Here’s just a slice of the arrests in March at the San Luis Port of Entry: • A 19-year-old man with 3.5 pounds of meth wrapped around his torso

• A 21-year-old man with 8 pounds of meth wrapped around his torso

• A 37-year-old man with 1.5 pounds of meth stuffed into the front of his pants

• A 58-year-old man with 27 pounds of meth hidden in the center console and undercarriage of his car

• A 21-year-old man with 54 pounds of cocaine hidden in his car

• An 18-year-old man with 34 pounds of meth hidden in a “non-factory” compartment directly above his car’s gas tank

Then one has to also consider the people who try to illegally cross outside of the port of entry with drugs. Smugglers have resorted to a variety of measures, from simply walking across the border to using ultralight aircraft to drop drugs into the U.S.

Border Patrol agents and Customs and Border Protection officers work dangerous jobs. Stopping drug traffickers introduces a level of unpredictability that means agents and officers must be alert and ready every single moment they are on the job.

Kudos to the men and women who serve to protect our borders, each and every day.