Record seizures for 2006 in Texas

[old hippie 56]

By ALICIA A. CALDWELL
Associated Press Writer

EL PASO, Texas — Texas state troopers set several records last year by seizing more than 50 tons of illegal drugs worth nearly $340 million, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.

The drugs included marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine, and carried a street value of about $335.9 million, DPS spokesman Tom Vinger said.

The 95,653 pounds of marijuana seized were more than double the amount of the drug found in 2005 and topped the 2004 record by more than 20,000 pounds.

Troopers found 5,986 pounds of cocaine, beating the record of 4,009 pounds set in 1994. The 267 pounds of methamphetamine were nearly 100 pounds more than the 2004 mark.

Authorities also arrested a record 1,975 people during the seizures, most on routine traffic stops, Vinger said.

"We've been successful the last several years, so it doesn't surprise me that seizures have increased," Vinger said. "I don't know that more drugs are coming through Texas, necessarily. It's simply a matter of there's always a lot of drugs coming through Texas."

Vinger said the majority of illegal drugs are thought to be coming into Texas from Mexico. Some loads are believed to be bound for Texas cities, including Houston and Dallas, while others were likely destined for the interior of the country, where retail prices are higher and the availability of some drugs is limited, Vinger said.

While many of the methods for smuggling narcotics — hiding drug bundles in any available nook or cranny — have not changed, Vinger said troopers have noticed an increase in "clone trucks," tractor trailers designed to look like a hauler for a legitimate company.

"They are just trying to blend in," said Vinger, who attributed the record seizures to $20 million in overtime funding from the Legislature that helped boost patrols. Training has also improved, he said.

Drug seizures along the southern border have also been on the rise for the U.S. Border Patrol, Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Ramon Rivera said from the agency's Washington headquarters.

Rivera said agents have been freed from some duties now handled by the National Guard troops deployed to the border last year by President Bush.