U.S. Drug Chief Gets Firsthand Look at S.D. Border Problems

Former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez, in his first trip to California since taking office as the federal anti-drug “czar” last month, was given a firsthand look Monday at the imposing task facing authorities attempting to police the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego.

Martinez, director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, spent several hours touring the border, including the bustling San Ysidro Port of Entry and the nearby rugged canyons that are well-traveled, illicit crossing zones, for both people and drugs.

The 56-year-old official unveiled no major initiatives, nor did he proclaim shifts in existing enforcement policy. Rather, Martinez, who was appointed by President Bush, stressed the importance of getting a “hands-on” feel for the border zone, to assist in future recommendations for funding, staffing and direction.

“I’d say the most important accomplishment of this trip is to get a feel for the flavor of the problem out here,” Martinez said at Brown Field airport before embarking on a half-hour helicopter tour of the border, accompanied by U.S. Customs Service officials and Gustavo de la Vina, chief Border Patrol agent in San Diego.

“I don’t expect to come out here and be an expert in one day. I’ll tell you this: I feel a lot better seeing it,” added Martinez, who said he had never visited the border region before.

It was significant, aides said, that Martinez chose to make his first California appearance along the San Diego border zone, a conduit for illicit drugs headed north from Mexico and South America.

“He’s got to learn that all borders don’t have water around them,” said Martinez’s deputy, Stanley E. Morris, alluding to Martinez’s background in Florida, where illicit drugs arrive by water and air. “I think he comes away with an understanding that this is a definite challenge.”

In October, U.S. Customs officers seized almost 4 tons of cocaine inside a propane tanker-truck at the Otay Mesa border crossing--the largest haul ever at a U.S. land boundary.

Martinez plans to visit border areas in Arizona and Texas before returning to Washington on Thursday, assistants said.

During his brief visit, Martinez viewed many of the now-familiar border scenes: Undocumented immigrants massing along the battered or non-existent fences, running through nearby fields and brush and walking along the medians and shoulders of freeways.

“There’s no question that it’s a wide and very expansive property that’s gotta be looked over,” Martinez said. “What depresses me is that it’s big, and it’s complex.”

At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, which federal authorities say is the world’s busiest border crossing (more than 51 million people entered U.S. territory via the port in the most recent fiscal year), Martinez witnessed an anti-smuggling operation known as a “block blitz.” Authorities stopped about 60 vehicles just north of the border and walked a drug-sniffing dog alongside the cars and trucks, seeking contraband.

“This is something that has been very successful,” said Rudy M. Camacho, district director for U.S. Customs, who said similar operations have been held throughout the past year. Monday’s blitz had not been planned because of Martinez’s visit, Camacho said. “This is not a show,” he said.

Although acknowledging that use of illegal narcotics is rampant in the United States, Martinez cited studies showing that there had been a “dramatic decline” in the use of illicit drugs--a conclusion that others have challenged. Martinez was quick to assert that use would be even more widespread were it not for the law enforcement officers at the border and elsewhere in the United States. Legalization is not an option, he strongly implied.

“Without this (enforcement), you would have a flood,” Martinez said, as San Ysidro checkpoint inspectors examined vehicles for contraband. National Guardsmen in fatigues directed traffic, an indication of the escalating military presence in the anti-drug “war” along the border.

“If you think it’s bad now,” Martinez concluded, “try it without this. You’d be up to your nose in it.”