Program to help truckers attracts drug smugglers
johnny@.
LAREDO, Texas (AP) - A U.S. program that offers trusted trucking
companies speedy passage across American borders has begun attracting
just the sort of customers who place a premium on avoiding inspections:
Mexican drug smugglers.
Most trucks enrolled in the program pause at the border for just 20
seconds before entering the United States. And nine out of 10 of them do
so without anyone looking at their cargo.
But among the small fraction of trucks that are inspected, authorities
have found multiple loads of contraband, including eight tons of
marijuana seized during one week in April.
Some experts now question whether the program makes sense at a time when
drug traffickers are willing to do almost anything to smuggle their
shipments into the U.S.
The trusted-shipper system "just tells the bad guys who to target," said
Dave McIntyre, former director of the Integrative Center for Homeland
Security at Texas A&M University.
The program works like this: Participating companies agree to adopt
certain security measures in exchange for fast entry into the U.S. They
are required to put their employees through background checks, fence in
their facilities and track their trucks. They also are asked to work
with subcontractors who also have been certified under the program,
which is run by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.
The government keeps the list of participants secret, citing national
security and trade secrets. But some of the 9,500 companies who are part
of the system advertise their membership to drum up business, making
them targets for smugglers, who can then threaten drivers or offer them
bribes.
More than half of all U.S. imports now come from companies in the
program, called the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism, or
C-TPAT. Mexican trucking companies make up only 6 percent of global
membership in the system, but they account for half of its 71 security
violations during the past two years.
Continued:
http://ktar.com/?nid=48&sid=1234999
Iconoclast
Those darned Hispanics are so clever. As soon as the Gringo certifies
that they are honest they trick the Gringo by smuggling in dope,
illegal aliens, and /or terrorists in the Mexican "pilot program"
trucks.
No Way losers
even searched . Cars get searched . people get searched . But trucks
that can haul 25 tons of wetbacks and dope go right through without a
glitch .
AnAmericanCitizen
I find it hard to believe any authority in this country would actually believe
anything told to them by so-called "trusted" Mexican nationals....AAC
Stormin Mormon
think they were all Congresscritters!
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.
"Iconoclast" <gold...@nym.hush.com> wrote in message
news:267bf570-f00b-4126...@o31g2000vbi.googlegroups.com...
rigger
>
> - Show quoted text -
> Those darned Hispanics are so clever
Not clever, sneaky. Kind of like a dog who'll wait until your
back is turned before grabbing food. In fact, exactly the same.
dennis
in nca