[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.
____________________