Border Patrol highway checkpoints in the southern New Mexico region that normally seize seven figures of worth of drugs annually have not seized a dollar in nearly four months after being shuttered in late March, allowing drugs to flood into the country.
Those seven checkpoints have sat unattended after Border Patrol closed them to move all personnel to the border to assist with apprehending, processing, and caring for the high number of migrant families arriving.
The two checkpoints in his county caught $12.7 million worth of drugs in 2018.
Drugs moved over the international border are typically dropped at stash houses then transported by vehicle further into the country.
"With our checkpoints being closed down there's no secondary measure of defense, and they've got a green light to take drugs right into the heart of America," said Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin.
The task force found $23,000 worth of drugs in March and $62,000 in April, the first full month checkpoints were closed.
Some officials are worried an increase in drugs could lead to an uptick in other crimes, though no one said they had any proof the closing of checkpoints had yet led to more crime.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/drugs-pour-in-from-mexico-as-border-patrol-forced-to-focus-on-migrants
Those seven checkpoints have sat unattended after Border Patrol closed them to move all personnel to the border to assist with apprehending, processing, and caring for the high number of migrant families arriving.
The two checkpoints in his county caught $12.7 million worth of drugs in 2018.
Drugs moved over the international border are typically dropped at stash houses then transported by vehicle further into the country.
"With our checkpoints being closed down there's no secondary measure of defense, and they've got a green light to take drugs right into the heart of America," said Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin.
The task force found $23,000 worth of drugs in March and $62,000 in April, the first full month checkpoints were closed.
Some officials are worried an increase in drugs could lead to an uptick in other crimes, though no one said they had any proof the closing of checkpoints had yet led to more crime.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/drugs-pour-in-from-mexico-as-border-patrol-forced-to-focus-on-migrants
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