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Ryan Tamura
J. Rogers
Government P3
October 18th, 2016
Drug Trafficking
Have you ever walked around a city and seen people using drugs such as cocaine, heroin,
or marijuana? Most likely, these drugs were smuggled across the Southwest border and into the
United States. The US has tried to stop this illegal smuggling from happening, but the results
have been futile. I have a plan to cut down the drug use in America by increasing the number of
border patrol agents and use of advanced technology across the Southwest border. We need to act
fast due to the high amounts of illegal drugs being smuggled into the US, the methods of
transporting drugs are becoming more significant, and the use of illegal drugs in the US are very
high.
Illegal drugs in the US have been a problem for a while, but now illegal drugs are being
smuggled into the US at such a high rate that it needs to be stopped. In 2005, federal lawenforcement seizure counts for cocaine and marijuana alone were astounding. The government
stated that 1.13 million pounds of cocaine and 6.9 million pounds of marijuana with a total
estimated street value of more than $80 billion dollars was seized ("Drug Trafficking."
Immigration to the United States). This bust was in 2005, and that's 12 years ago. Think of how
more efficient these drug dealers are today compared to 12 years ago. Most people already know
that most of the cocaine in the US come from across the border, but do they know how much
really comes from across the border? The US authorities estimate that close to 90% of the
cocaine entering the country crosses the US/Mexico land border, most of it entering the state of

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Texas (Rebecca, wabwoba). This means that our border patrol isnt efficient if 90% of the
cocaine that comes into the US crosses the border. Illegal drugs dont just hurt our society, but
they benefit the providers, in this case primarily Mexico. More than 90 percent of cocaine now
travels through Mexico into the United States, up from 77 percent in 2003. Officials estimate that
the drug trade makes up 3 to 4 percent of Mexico's $1.2 trillion annual GDPtotaling as much
as $30 billionand employs at least half a million people (US Department of Justice). Even
though 3 to 4 percent of Mexicos GDP doesnt sound like much, 3% of $1.2 trillion is $36
million. We cant give Mexico $36 million through the illegal drug trade, but through legal
transactions. This is why we need to increase the number of border patrol agents and the use of
advanced technology in order to stop the rate of illegal drugs coming into the US from rising.
As time has gone on, methods of transportation have changed. This goes the same for the
transportation of illegal drugs across the border. Methods of smuggling drugs are as simple as
having immigrants carry them across to elaborate schemes that involve planes and boats. Take
the very simple method of just having immigrants transport drugs across the border. According
to a recent interagency intelligence assessment, approximately 65 percent of the cocaine
smuggled into the United States crosses the Southwest border ("Drug Trafficking in the United
States.). These immigrants will find any way to smuggle drugs, whether its concealment, body
packing, or balloon swallowing. Smugglers will take objects such as empty fire extinguishers
and fill them with drugs to transport them without being searched. But times have changed and
more elaborate techniques are being used. After large loads reach transshipment points in
Mexico or Central America, they are broken down into small, more difficult-to-detect loads that
are smuggled across the Southwest border into the United States
(http://www.drugcaucus.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Michael%20P.%20Botticelli.pdf).

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Smugglers would also dig long tunnels to smuggle tons of drugs at a time. In the latest incident
about 1,016kg (2,242lb) of cocaine and 6,350kg of marijuana suspected of being transported
through the tunnel was seized (News, BBC. "Huge US-Mexico Drugs Tunnel Found in San
Diego."). This was from one of the hundreds of tunnels along the border. How were these tunnels
made without detection is beyond me, but we need to put an end to these tunnels and other
methods of smuggling drugs.
As time progresses and more drugs are smuggled into the US, the drug usage rate has
skyrocketed. Compared to the rest of the world, the US is a major consumer of illegal drugs,
such as cocaine. North America accounted for more than 40 per cent of global cocaine
consumption (the total was estimated at around 470 tons), while the 27 European Union and four
European Free Trade Association countries accounted for more than a quarter of total
consumption (Rebecca, wabwoba). This is due to large amounts of cocaine coming from
Mexico and other Central/South American countries. Mexico doesnt just the US with cocaine,
but with other illegal drugs such as heroin, marijuana, and meth. Mexico is the number one
foreign supplier of marijuana abused in the United States. Mexico is also the number-one foreign
supplier of methamphetamine to the United States (FBI). If we dont stop this soon our country
will possibly be ruined by illegal drug trafficking. Conversely, heroin seizures along the
Southwest Border have been increasing, most likely as a result of the growing Mexican influence
in heroin production and transportation ("(U) Drug Movement Into and Within the United States
- National Drug Threat Assessment 2010 (UNCLASSIFIED)."). Mexico has corrupted our
society by providing us with tons illegal drugs and we need more border patrol agents and better
technology to stop this rate from increasing.

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To pass this bill to allow us to increase the number of border patrol agents and the use of
more advanced technology, we as a country would have to impose new taxes to help pay for
these actions. Knowing how most Americans would react to this, this bill wouldnt be passed
because go ahead one wants a new tax. However, this tax benefits the US in so many beneficial
ways that they outweigh the negative outputs of the tax. The bill would help the border patrol
find more smuggled drugs thus decreasing the illegal foreign drugs. Our cocaine and heroin use,
as a whole, would decrease since most of these drugs are from across the border. Yet some would
question Why would we need more technology along the border if we have a significant amount
there already? In recent years, CBP has made significant technology deployments between the
ports of entry along the Southwest Border
("Homeland Security Today: Drug Trafficking on Southwest Border 'Worse than Ever'). While
this is true, the technology doesn't always help. We need more technology because smugglers
dont just take drugs above ground, but also below it. Nearly 200 tunnel have been dug to
smuggle drugs into the US (Nixon, Ron). Border patrol usually discover these tunnels after its
too late and tons of drugs are already into our society. Also, in those areas of the border that we
dont have border patrol agents we would need more technology to fortify the weak points in the
border. Planes and boats find gaps in U.S./Mexican coverage and position drugs close to the
border for eventual transfer to the United States (Shielding U.S. Borders from the Drug Threat.).
So while many people would oppose this bill, it is beneficial to helping our fight to stop the
illegal drug trade.
Walking around a city and seeing people abuse drugs is more common than ever. This is
because of the illegal drugs being smuggled into the US. We need to pass this bill to increase the
number of border patrol agents and the use of advanced technology along the Southwest border.

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The US needs to act fast on this bill due to the high amounts of illegal drugs being smuggled into
the US, the methods of transporting drugs are becoming more significant, and the use of illegal
drugs in the US are very high.

Work Cited

"Border Patrol Discovers Cocaine Stashed Inside Fire Extinguisher." U.S. Customs and Border
Protection. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2016.

By Curtailing the Flow of Drugs across Our Borders..." 6. Shielding U.S. Borders from the Drug

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Threat. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Sept. 2016.

By the End of December, More. "(U) Drug Movement Into and Within the United States National Drug Threat Assessment 2010 (UNCLASSIFIED)." N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct.
2016.

Council on Foreign Relations. Council on Foreign Relations, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

"Drug Trafficking." Immigration to the United States. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

http://www.drugcaucus.senate.gov/sites/default/files/Michael%20P.%20Botticelli.pdf

FBI. FBI, 05 May 2010. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

Growing, By. "Drug Trafficking in the United States." Drug Trafficking in the United States.
N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Sept. 2016.

" Homeland Security Today: Drug Trafficking on Southwest Border 'Worse than Ever' N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 Sept. 2016.

News, BBC. "Huge US-Mexico Drugs Tunnel Found in San Diego." BBC News. N.p., n.d. Web.
10 Oct. 2016.

Nixon, Ron. "As Donald Trump Calls for Wall on Mexican Border, Smugglers Dig Tunnels."

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The New York Times. The New York Times, 01 Sept. 2016. Web. 17 Sept. 2016.

Rebecca.wabwoba. "United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime." Mexico, Central America and
the Caribbean. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

https://www.dea.gov/resource-center/DIR-017-13%20NDTA%20Summary%20final.pdf