Drug seizures at the U.S.-Mexico border have increased by 56% since July, said U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan.
Since July 15, more than $173 million in narcotics has been seized from trucks in Texas and California.
“There has been a significant increase in all hard narcotics seized along the U.S.-Mexico border by agents — heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine,” Morgan said during a Friday press conference in Laredo, Texas. “What’s really noticeable is we’ve seen an incredible increase in methamphetamine across the board.”
Seizures of meth at the Mexican border have increased almost 70% month-to-month since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Morgan said.
“Right here in Laredo, just five seizures have yielded 1,900 pounds of methamphetamine worth more than $34 million,” said Morgan.
Morgan added smuggling attempts are increasing using tractor-trailers because travel bans have reduced pedestrian traffic across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“[Cartels], what they are doing is they are going to commercial conveyances, the trucks, and they’re using that more than they were before. Right here in Laredo, what do we have? We have the busiest port of entry for commercial trucking in the entire United States,” Morgan said.
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