Officers make three drug seizures at port ($780,000)

BISBEE — Customs and Border Protection officers at the Douglas port of entry seized more than $780,000 in marijuana and also arrested a previously deported man for attempting entry by falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen, according to the agency.

On Tuesday at about 1 p.m., an officer became suspicious of the driver of a 1992 Honda Accord. Officers searched the vehicle and discovered a metal box inside the gas tank. About 77 pounds of marijuana were discovered.

The driver, a 30-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested and turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for further investigation.

On Thursday at about 1 p.m., an 18-year-old woman identified as a U.S. citizen was driving a white 1992 Chevrolet Suburban. She applied for entry into the United States. An officer selected her and the vehicle for inspection.

A narcotic detector dog alerted the officers to the gas tank and tires. The tires contained metal collars that were securely fastened to the rims allowing them to be properly inflated. All compartments contained tightly compressed marijuana. About 402 pounds of marijuana were removed.

The vehicles and marijuana were seized and the case was turned over to ICE for further investigation.

On Wednesday shortly after 1 a.m., an officer referred a 39-year-old pedestrian for further examination. The man attempted entry claiming U.S. citizenship.

Officers conducted queries to verify his claim and discovered he was a Mexican citizen who had previously been deported for numerous federal and state violations. He was arrested on charges of making a false claim to U.S. citizenship and processed him for expedited removal.

REPORTER Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.

It was 479 pounds which comes to about $1,628 a pound. That is of course a greatly inflated number for Mexican pot. I've handled thousands of pounds worth of pot cases as an attorney and I know in my area Mexican pot goes for in the neighborhood of $400 to $600 a pound and I'm a good 13 hours or so from the closest point on the Mexican border. Our narcotics officers are actually paying that little for it and they don't spend a lot of time developing business relationships with people before they bust them. The closer you get to the border where it is smuggled in the lower the price. Down in Mexico this stuff is ridiculously cheap, especially for bulk purchases. Mexican organized crime produces it themselves and what they do buy from farmers costs them only a few dollars a pound. Someone with some connections who goes down there to buy 100 pounds can get it for around five grand easily. This Mexican stuff is dirt cheap and the profits that these guys are making are huge, especially when it's transported far from the border where it is more expensive. The stuff grown indoors here and in Canada is much more expensive to begin with, but a small bag a consumer might purchase is going to cost several times as much as the same amount of Mexican pot in most places.

If we legalized this stuff and gave farmers permits to grow it on large farms with modern equipment like they use for other crops, it would be dirt cheap to produce. The fancier stuff could be grown in row after row of greenhouses and the cheaper stuff just in open fields. Production costs would be much lower than they are now and the biggest costs, all those that come with it being an illegal product would be gone. The only way we would keep the cost to consumers anywhere close to what they are today is through massive taxes.

Even being as expensive as it is today for consumers because it is illegal it's still usually going to be cheaper than beer on a per use basis. Even the super pricey potent indoor grown stuff is fairly cheap on a per use basis because it takes so little of that stuff to do the trick. People in places like California where they have those medical marijuana dispensaries will gladly pay $20 and $30 a gram for the fanciest varieties at these establishments. They're doing gangbusters business even those these medical marijuana users are allowed to grow their own. In a legal system wholesale costs for even for the most potent stuff would be a fraction of what they are today and there would be plenty of room for taxes. We could save the fortune we are wasting trying in vain to keep up the ban and bring in many billions of dollars a year in tax revenues, sales taxes and excises on the pot being sold and income taxes and other taxes on all the people who would be gainfully employed in the legal industry.

“Never fear, he and about 14 of his buddies will be back a week after they deport him this time.”

One good thing that has been happening is that we've seen record numbers of federal charges being filed for “illegal reentry.” These guys who get in a lot of trouble and get deported are facing “aggravated illegal reentry” charges if they come back, punishable by up to 20 years in the federal pen with no possibility of parole. There was a time when all these people would come back after we deport them. That's not as much of a problem as it used to be because people are starting to get the message that if they are caught in this country after being deported they won't just get deported again, they're going to prison just for coming back.

Yup

If the FedGov got into the business they could sell pot for say - $1 a pound and use that for free herion and cocaine giveaways.

THat would solve the cronic drug abuse problem quickly and end the terror from the drug gangs.

You would have to be fly with a massive population die-off though. Some folks might object to that part of it.

I guess no solution would please everyone.

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