DEA does not think Trump border wall will stop drugs

www.oxygenemag.com/dea-does-not-think-trump-border-wall-will-stop-drugs/

President Donald Trump says his wall at the US-Mexico border will help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. There’s one  problem with the plan: The drugs coming into the US Northeast often arrive by plane, boat, or hidden in vehicles, according to an  intelligence report by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

A 24-page report prepared by the DEA in May found that drugs coming from Mexico do often enter through the southwestern border, but they do so concealed in vehicles, like tractor-trailers. Moreover, drugs coming from Colombia are more often transported by plane and boat,
the reports notes.

Transnational criminal organizations “generally route larger drug shipments destined for the Northeast through the Bahamas and/or South Florida by using a variety of maritime conveyance methods, to include speedboats, fishing vessels, sailboats, yachts, and containerized sea cargo,” the reports reads. “In some cases, Dominican Republic-based traffickers will also transport cocaine into Haiti for subsequent shipment to the United States via the Bahamas and/or South Florida corridor using maritime and air transport.”

Speaking Monday at a joint news conference with Finland’s president, Trump turned his attention back to the wall he has promised to build along the US border with Mexico. “The drugs are pouring in at levels like nobody has ever seen,” Trump said. “We’ll be able to stop them once the wall is up.”

The DEA report does not address the wall but details how drugs enter the country, and many of the examples illustrate that it is not through land routes. “According to DEA reporting, the majority of the heroin available in New Jersey originates in Colombia and is primarily smuggled into the United States by Colombian and Dominican groups via human couriers on commercial flights to the Newark International Airport,” the document states.

DEA agents load bales of cocaine into a van after a news conference at the U.S. Coast Guard base in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2013. Associated Press/Ricardo Arduengo

The report, which focuses heavily on the growth of Domg cocaine-filled suitcases on commercial flights — sometimes with the help of airline employees — or via mail.inican trafficking groups, outlines a variety of ways drugs enter the United States, including via couriers carrying The drugs are often transported by boat from the Bahamas or Venezuela up through Miami. The main hubs for transport include the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

“Due to Puerto Rico’s proximity and status as a US territory, Dominican Republic-based traffickers commonly direct drug shipments to Puerto Rico, where they are partitioned into small units and sent directly to the Northeast, mainly through the US postal system, parcel mail service, and couriers on commercial flights,” the report states.

At the end of the intelligence report, the DEA makes a recommendation, but it doesn’t involve building a wall.

“As key distributors of heroin, controlled prescription pills, and fentanyl—in their various forms—Dominican traffickers play a critical role in fomenting the national opioid epidemic, specifically in the Northeast,” it states.

The report adds that “successful targeting of their networks by US law enforcement would be an essential component to any broad strategy for resolving the current opioid crisis.”

The DEA did not respond to a request for comment about the report.

A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle patrols near the U.S-Mexico border on May 11, 2017 in San Diego, California.
Getty Images/John Moore

Trump this week appeared to be emphasizing drug trafficking as a rationale for the border wall, as he is claiming illegal crossings already have declined under his administration. “We’re up to almost 80 percent” reduction in illegal immigration, Trump said at Monday’s press conference. (There are questions, however, about the numbers Trump cited. )

“But you need the wall to do the rest, and you need the wall for the drugs,” Trump added. “The drugs are a tremendous problem. The wall will greatly help with the drug problem.”

Though Trump continues to insist that Mexico will pay for the wall — or at least reimburse the costs of it — the DEA report notes the role of Dominican networks in the Northeast. “Although Mexican traffickers may threaten their dominance in future decades, Dominican traffickers continue to position themselves to remain a significant element of the regional drug trade regardless of their extent of influence or role,” the report reads.

It’s also unclear how a wall would help curb the influx of illegal drugs if the shipments are entering the country by air and sea. Moreover, the Trump administration at one point was to the US Coast Guard, which is responsible for drug interdiction at sea, in order to fund the border wall.

The president’s proposed budget request ended up maintaining funding for the service at the same level , but the head of the Coast
Guard told reporters in April that even current spending wasn’t enough to interdict all of the drug shipments spotted.

“We have an awareness of over 80 percent of the maritime flow of drugs in the Eastern Pacific where most of it takes place, but also in the Caribbean,” Coast Guard Commandant Paul Zukunft said. “But last year, with all of that awareness, there were 580 events that we had at least one level of information on that we just did not have enough ships or enough planes to track those down.”

The OFFICIAL WAR ON DRUGS started in 1970 with the passage of The Controlled Substance Act which created the BNDD ( Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs) which evolved into the DEA on July 1st,1973.

The Controlled Substance Act (CSA) replaced the Federal Narcotics bureau which had a 2 million/yr budget with the BNDD with a 43 million/yr budget and 1500 new employees charged with fighting the war on drugs.

Now 47 yrs later with a estimated 81 billion/yr spent on fighting the war on drugs… the DEA seems to admit that they are unable – or the war on drugs itself – is a MISSION IMPOSSIBLE…but Coast Guard’s Paul Zukunft stated that they need MORE MONEY.

It is claimed that the drug cartels generate 100 billion/yr in revenue from the sales of illegal drugs… so we are quickly approaching a point where we will be spending more money than we are trying to stop.

We are dealing with people with mental health issues and after nearly FIVE DECADES… those who wish to self medicate the demons in their heads and/or monkeys on their back.. seem to continue to find drugs… Would we have fewer OD’s, and fewer crimes committed to fund their drug seeking if we provided pharmaceutical grade opiates and clean needles to those who’s interest in abusing opiates cannot be changed.

Likewise, it can be expected that there will be a dramatic drop in the spread of HIV, HEP B &  C  from the sharing of “dirty needles”.

Filed under: General Problems