It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the U.S. Border Patrol.
Then again, it usually is.
Last week, agents from San Clemente Station in California seized more than 65 pounds of methamphetamine and 41 pounds of cocaine in two separate incidents.
On June 12, agents stopped a vehicle on Interstate 5, and a search yielded 30 total packages containing 31 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $68,200. The driver was a U.S. citizen.
The next day, according to U.S. Border Patrol, San Clemente agents stopped another vehicle on Interstate 5. Agents searched the interior and found narcotics hidden in the roof.
It was quite a haul — 34.5 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated street value of $75,900, and .41 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $576,600.
There have been other drug interceptions, including Friday’s bust in Texas. There, at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo, a “canine and non-intrusive inspection system examination” uncovered 38 packages hidden in the tires of a trailer truck that was supposed to be carrying juice, CBP said.
Those packages contained 87 pounds of cocaine, with a total estimated street value of $671,160.
This is what our Border Patrol does, and the scourge of illegal drugs is one of the reasons so many have rallied so long for beefed up border protections.
“Criminal organizations poison our communities with these narcotics and only care about the proceeds they make from their eventual sale.” said San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke.
The problem is, there aren’t enough agents.
But in a rare bright moment on Capitol Hill, a new bipartisan measure would require the Department of Homeland Security to increase hiring. According to CBP, the agency is down about 900 officers.
The Securing America’s Ports of Entry Act of 2022 was introduced in March by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., with nine Republican, Democratic and Independent co-sponsors. It would require Customs and Border Protection to hire at least 600 additional officers per year until the agency meets its staffing goals.
The bill got ringing endorsements from trade, travel and law enforcement stakeholders, including John Drake, vice president of Supply Chain Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Hector Garza, national vice president of the National Border Patrol Council.
Tony Reardon, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, has for years called on Congress to provide more staffing resources at CBP.
“It is clear that our ports of entry are understaffed and employees have stepped up to keep operations moving,” Reardon said. “Now that international trade and travel are recovering, Congress needs to increase their ranks.”
The need is great, and obvious. All that’s needed is congressional action.
Congress, however, continues to expend energy on topics such as expanding the Supreme Court and worrying more about winning seats than about the real-world problems that plague Americans.
On this issue, they have to act, ASAP. Even those who don’t live in border states are affected.
Case in point, a search warrant served on a Dorchester man Thursday by the Boston Police Department yielded 76 grams of crack cocaine, 160 grams of heroin, 60 grams of powder cocaine, 95 oxycodone pills and 12 gabapentin pills. Who knows where this stash originated.
But the sooner we get more Border Patrol agents on the front lines of drug smuggling, the sooner this trash is off our streets.
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