[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 66 (Monday, May 13, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4969-S4970]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             DRUG SMUGGLING

  Mr. COVERDELL. Mr. President, the Los Angeles Times ran an article 
today, May 13, 1996, and it is just a stunning article.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that this article be printed 
in the Record.
  There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

               [From the Los Angeles Times, May 13, 1996]

             Drug Runners Arrested at Border Often Go Free

                             (By H.G. Reza)

       San Diego.--During the federal government's yearlong 
     narcotics crackdown along the Southwest border; hundreds of 
     suspected smugglers have been allowed to go free after U.S. 
     authorities arrested them with substantial quantities of 
     drugs at ports of entry in California.
       In the past year, about 2,300 suspected traffickers were 
     taken into custody for bringing drugs across the border but, 
     according to records and interviews, more than one in four 
     were simply sent home to Mexico because of jail overcrowding 
     and prosecutorial discretion.
       Two suspects with 32 pounds of methamphetamine, and another 
     with 37,000 Quaalude tablets, were simply ``excluded'' from 
     the United States after their drugs and vehicles were 
     confiscated.
       The handling of drug cases at the border, most involving at 
     least 50 pounds of marijuana, reflects shifting and sometimes 
     conflicting pressures on the federal law enforcement 
     community.
       The threshold for prosecutions, drug agents say, has risen 
     as the government has stepped up narcotics interdiction at 
     border crossings and made more seizures. In addition, they 
     say there often is no room for drug suspects at the federal 
     jail here because it is overflowing with people awaiting 
     trial on immigration law violations and other charges.
       After a seizure of 158 pounds of cocaine, one defendant was 
     cited and released because there was no room at the federal 
     jail, said the woman's attorney. The charges against her were 
     dropped, the attorney added.
       Officials at the U.S. attorney's office confirm that under 
     a program quietly adopted two years ago, an increasing number 
     of suspected traffickers have been sent back to Mexico 
     without arrest or prosecution in either federal or state 
     court. Instead, they are prohibited from returning to this 
     country pending an immigration hearing.
       Government figures show that more than 1,000 smuggling 
     suspects have been processed this way since 1994 after 
     seizures by the U.S. Customs Service and the Border Patrol.
       The number of such cases rose from 215 in 1994 to 636 last 
     year at San Ysidro, Tecate and Otay Mesa. There were 288 
     cases in the first four months of 1996--and officials project 
     that the total will reach more than 800 for the year.
       ``This is, in our opinion, a powerful prosecutorial tool,'' 
     Assistant U.S. Atty. John Kramer said in an interview, 
     ``Immigration exclusion cases principally involve first-time 
     offenders who face the sanction of losing permanent residency 
     in the United States or their border crossing cards.''
       Justice Department and U.S. Customs Service officials have 
     reported unprecedented drug seizures in the first year of 
     Operation Hard Line, an anti-drug program along the entire 
     border with Mexico. Last year, they said, total drug seizures 
     from vehicles, cargo containers and pedestrians at all ports 
     were up 25% over the previous year.
       ``To the extent that drug seizures are up, there is perhaps 
     the perception that we're not doing more in the prosecuting 
     area [but] more felony cases have been filed than ever 
     before,'' Kramer said.
       The overall number of felony drug prosecutions originating 
     from border arrests more than doubled in San Diego County, 
     Kramer said, with almost two-thirds prosecuted in state 
     court.
       The government's ``exclusion policy'' has caused 
     frustration among some Customs inspectors, who are making 
     increasing numbers of seizures. After two Mexican women with 
     32 pounds of methamphetamine and 24 pounds of marijuana were 
     sent back across the border, one inspector wrote in an Aug. 
     13, 1995, report:
       ``Lack of enforcement is not because inspectors aren't 
     trying. It's because of the policy coming from upstairs.''
       Anyone caught smuggling drugs, even a single marijuana 
     cigarette, can be charged with a felony offense, carrying a 
     minimum of two years in prison, or a misdemeanor, carrying up 
     to a year in jail.
       But since the early 1990s, the U.S. attorney's office has 
     struggled with its inability to prosecute all drug cases--
     especially marijuana cases--because of inadequate resources. 
     Officials previously had set loose guidelines for deciding 
     whether to seek misdemeanor or felony charges, depending on 
     the amount of marijuana.
       Now, officials say the U.S. Customs Service is operating 
     under guidelines limiting any prosecution--including 
     misdemeanors--to cases involving 125 pounds of marijuana or 
     more.
       And Mexican nationals who are first-time offenders usually 
     are taken before an immigration judge and given the option of 
     being excluded from the country, pending an immigration 
     appeal, or of being prosecuted. So far, officials said, no 
     one has chosen prosecution.
       ``Generally prosecution is deferred if the amount is below 
     125 pounds, or if the defendant is a Mexican citizen, or if 
     in the opinion of the prosecutor, it's not a strong case,'' 
     said Jeff Casey, Customs deputy special agent in charge in 
     San Diego.
       However, Kramer said, suspects who escape prosecution for 
     their first seizure will automatically be charged if they are 
     caught a second time, regardless of the drug type or 
     quantity.
       U.S. Customs Service records reviewed by The Times show 
     that some smugglers have been caught two or more times--even 
     in the same week--yet still were not jailed or prosecuted. In 
     addition, no action was taken against a number of suspected 
     smugglers captured with more than 125 pounds of marijuana.
       One 58-year-old U.S. citizen, according to seizure records, 
     was arrested three times this year at the border--in January 
     with 53 pounds of marijuana, in February with 51 pounds and 
     this month with 41 pounds. Although he had a criminal history 
     that stretched back four decades and included an alien 
     smuggling charge, he was not prosecuted for the first two 
     seizures, according to a law enforcement source.
       In one case that exceeded the threshold, records show that 
     two U.S. citizens arrested Oct. 22, 1995, for smuggling 151 
     pounds of marijuana were not prosecuted. And neither was a 
     21-year-old U.S. citizen arrested March 16 with 386 pounds of 
     marijuana who had been caught a week earlier with a smaller 
     amount.

[[Page S4970]]

       Citing privacy concerns, the U.S. attorney's office 
     declined to state the reasons why specific cases were not 
     prosecuted.
       ``If a person is arrested at the border and a case isn't 
     filed, sometimes there are legitimate law enforcement reasons 
     to do that,'' Kramer said. ``The point is, there are a number 
     of reasons other than not wanting to go forward with the 
     case.''
       Some federal law enforcement officials have complained that 
     lack of jail space has forced them to release drug suspects 
     outright or issue them citations, which are also promises to 
     appear in court.
       Kramer acknowledged that prosecutors and law enforcement 
     agents are sometimes ``forced to make hard decisions because 
     of a lack of bed space'' at the jail. But, he added, ``If 
     there is a belief that our emphasis on immigration 
     prosecutions has detracted us from felony prosecutions of 
     drug cases, that assumption is incorrect.''
       One cause of the overcrowding, critics say, is Operation 
     Gatekeeper, a controversial crackdown on illegal immigration 
     that has helped fill the local federal jail.
       Last week, 49% of the 930 inmates housed at the 
     Metropolitan Correction Center were charged with immigration 
     law violations, while 36% were being held for drug offenses, 
     said a spokeswoman.
       Mario Conte, head of the Federal Defenders of San Diego 
     Inc., alleged that U.S. Atty. Alan Bersin, the Clinton 
     administration's border czar, is pursuing a tough prosecution 
     policy on illegal immigration to score political points for 
     the White House.
       ``He's created a crisis by his policy, which has led to 
     overcrowding at [the federal jail],'' said Conte, whose group 
     of attorneys represents indigent defendants in U.S. District 
     Court.
       Bersin denied that the immigration prosecutions are 
     politically motivated, noting that most of the defendants 
     have previous convictions for serious crimes. ``By targeting 
     people with substantial criminal histories, we have not only 
     helped reduce crime . . . but have stopped targeting economic 
     migrants who were previously filling the jail,'' he said.
       The jail has an approved capacity of 950 but until recently 
     housed an average of 1,200 inmates each month. To ease 
     overcrowding, officials sent 174 inmates facing immigration 
     charges to Miramar Naval Air Station, where they rioted and 
     burned part of the brig in March.
       In examining federal court records for 30 of the biggest 
     seizure cases at San Ysidro, The Times found that felony 
     charges are often plea-bargained to misdemeanors, and those 
     convicted seldom do more than six months in jail. Many other 
     cases are settled, with federal attorneys agreeing not to 
     prosecute if the suspect does not commit attention offenses 
     for a year.
       Customs inspectors and federal drug agents said narcotics 
     rings know that chances are slim that a marijuana courier 
     will be prosecuted. So, they say, traffickers have no trouble 
     recruiting people and paying them $200 to drive small loads 
     of marijuana through the port, time and again.
       ``There is virtually no risk [to smugglers] as long as they 
     keep quantities down. First of all, the chances of getting 
     caught are slim, and the chances of prosecution are almost 
     zero if you get caught with a small quantity and if you're a 
     Mexican national,'' said a veteran Drug Enforcement 
     Administration agent who requested anonymity.
       Even when smuggled in small amounts, marijuana generates 
     huge profits for dealers, said the agent. A Jamaican drug 
     ring recently was buying Mexican marijuana in San Diego at 
     $500 per pound--purchasing 20 pounds to 50 pounds at a time--
     and selling it in Rhode Island for $1,500 a pound, the agent 
     added.
       Cases are turned over to the district attorney here for 
     prosecution when the suspect or vehicle owner lives in San 
     Diego County, or the drugs are destined for the county. 
     Officials said that in the last two years, 1,462 cases were 
     referred to local prosecutors, compared to 1,030 handled by 
     the federal government.
       Deputy Dist. Atty. Joan Stein said that in almost every 
     case the defendant pleads guilty to a single felony count. 
     Usually, she said, defendants are first-time offenders and 
     are given light sentences by judges.

  Mr. COVERDELL. The headline reads, ``Drug Runners Arrested at Border 
Often Go Free.''

       Smuggling: Crackdown leads to more seizures, but jail 
     overcrowding and clashing priorities force suspects' release.
       During the Federal Government's yearlong narcotics 
     crackdown along the Southwest border.

  I know this will be of interest to the Presiding Officer.

     Hundreds of suspected smugglers have been allowed to go free 
     after U.S. authorities arrested them with substantial 
     quantities of drugs at ports of entry in California.
       In the past year, about 2,300 suspected traffickers were 
     taken into custody for bringing drugs across the border but, 
     according to records and interviews, more than one in four 
     were simply sent home to Mexico because of jail overcrowding. 
     . .
       Two suspects with 32 pounds of methamphetamine, and another 
     with 37,000 Quaalude tablets, were simply ``excluded'' from 
     the United States after their drugs and vehicles were 
     confiscated.
       After a seizure of 158 pounds of cocaine, one defendant was 
     cited and released because there was no room at the federal 
     jail, said the women's attorney. The charges against her were 
     dropped, the attorney added.

  Mr. President, it is just one travesty after another.

       One 58-year-old U.S. citizen, according to seizure records, 
     was arrested three times this year at the border--in January 
     with 53 pounds of marijuana, in February with 51 pounds and 
     this month with 41 pounds.
       Customs inspectors and federal drug agents said narcotic 
     rings know that chances are slim that a marijuana courier 
     will be prosecuted. So, they say, traffickers have no trouble 
     recruiting people and paying them $200 to drive small loads 
     of marijuana through the port, time and again.

  Mr. President, in the last 36 months drug use among our children age 
8 to 13 has doubled--doubled. We are in the midst of a drug epidemic 
that threatens our youth from Georgia to Arizona to California. The 
fact that this condition is not immediately rectified is deplorable. 
Interdiction has been decimated, and this is the result we get from it. 
Interdiction is a key component, not the only one.
  We need to be supporting parent and community groups and education 
because children today have not had a proper role model. The White 
House has been silent on this, and does not think drugs are a problem. 
We have to turn that around. But we must get this straightened out, Mr. 
President.
  I will be entering remarks in the Record later today. We will 
immediately begin looking for amendments and funding so that this 
condition simply will not be tolerated by U.S. authorities on our side 
of the border. I yield the floor.

                          ____________________