Agents Set Annual Drug Seizure Record

U.S. Customs agents seized a record 15,833 pounds of cocaine at the five ports of entry in the San Diego district during fiscal year 1991, federal officials announced Friday.

In addition, the amount of marijuana recovered, 30,916 pounds, is the highest in six years. Last year customs agents at San Ysidro, Otay Mesa, Tecate, Calexico and Andrade collected 14,820 pounds of marijuana from smugglers. Heroin seizures rose from 12 pounds in fiscal 1990 to 16 pounds this year.

Rudy M. Camacho, director of the San Diego Customs District, said that, although custom agents are impounding more drugs, smugglers are finding more ways to get their cargo across the border undetected.

“They are extremely talented in what they do,” Camacho said. “The only limits on a smuggler’s resources is his imagination.”

Techniques include devising cleverly concealed compartments and disguising the smell of the drugs will detergents, coffee and talcum powder.

For example, on Sept. 6, 2,907 pounds of cocaine were found hidden under a shipment of scrap metal on a flatbed trailer at an Otay Mesa cargo facility. On Oct. 4, 1990, customs officials discovered 8,006 pounds of cocaine concealed in a propane tanker at the same Otay Mesa location.

Although Camacho declined to discuss specific methods customs agents use to detect drugs, he said officials are constantly adjusting their methods to reflect trends.

The high volume of seizures is continuing for fiscal 1992, which began Oct. 1. Already, customs agents in San Diego County have recovered 4,075 pounds of marijuana and 544 pounds of cocaine.