The number of meth seizures along the U.S.-Mexico border soared to record levels in fiscal 2014, rising eight percent over the same period in 2013.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported over the weekend that the latest figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection showed that 14,732 pounds of meth were seized by the San Diego field office during the fiscal year that ended September 30.
The seizures accounted for 63 percent of meth confiscated at all land, air and sea ports of entry across the country. Seizures of marijuana, cocaine and heroin all in fiscal 2014.
A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration official told the newspaper that the California border has now been established as the main smuggling route for Mexican cartels to flood the American market with cheap methamphetamine.
The official, assistant special agent in charge in San Diego Gary Hill, said the production is largely controlled by the Sinaloa cartel and Knights Templar, groups that also control the smuggling routes on the California border. “They control the gateway at San Diego and they seem to be the ones who are most involved in manufacturing the methamphetamine, so it kind of goes hand-in-hand,” Hill said.
It is now cheaper for cartels to manufacture meth in Mexico than to import cocaine from South America for shipping across the border.
Hill said that undercover agents were purchasing meth in San Diego for $3,500 a pound, versus about $11,800 for a pound of cocaine.
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