While marijuana remains the most common drug burned at these events, statistics from 2001 and 2002 provided by the Mexican Attorney General's Office show some interesting trends in Baja California: A 1,485 percent increase in the confiscation of ephedrine, a chemical used to make methamphetamine.
A 29 percent increase in cocaine confiscations.
A 59 percent drop in marijuana seizures.
A 58 percent decrease in the total number of pounds of drugs confiscated, from about 282,240 pounds in 2001 to 117,873 pounds in 2002, mostly because of the drop in marijuana confiscations.
Some say tighter security along key sections of the U.S. border since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks may be frightening some marijuana smugglers away. Marijuana seizures by U.S. authorities at the California ports of entry also have dipped, by 35 percent, over the past two years.
..........In January, during a military operation in Tijuana, six federal narcotics agents in a special unit in the Attorney General's Office were arrested and charged with trying to extort a drug trafficking group for the return of almost 5 tons of marijuana.
That group since has been disbanded in Baja California.
But corruption manages to infiltrate other drug-fighting groups as well.
While no one will say so officially, it is widely believed that the drug burnings were started again last year because an unknown quantity of drugs apparently "disappeared" from the military base. The military is the designated guardian of drugs confiscated by other agencies.
During the March event, federal agents stayed for about 45 minutes to make sure all the drugs had caught fire before piling back into their cars. But military official Fidelcio Reyes Baeza said he would stay until the last embers had faded – just to be sure. *** *** Source