The Region : Fewer Entry Gates to Be Staffed at Border

U.S. Customs will staff only its required 50% of the gates at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in a move to free officers for a stepped-up war against drug smuggling. The result could mean longer waits for northbound travelers. Customs agents who had been filling in at gates for immigration officers are being assigned to other drug enforcement operations in response to increased drug trafficking along California’s border with Mexico, a customs spokesman said. Customs had been staffing about 75% of the gates since 1984, despite an agreement to share responsibility 50-50 with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the spokesman said. “We are simply reacting to the fact that the narcotics problem is increasing,” he said.