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Funding Needed To Combat Influx Of Meth Crossing The Border

3.18.2015 -Dianne Feinstein, U-T San Diego

In January, Customs and Border Protection agents in San Clemente found 23 pounds of meth hidden under the back seat of an SUV. Street value: $236,000.

Six months earlier, a vehicle stop near Temecula led to almost 70 pounds of meth hidden under the driver-side carpet. Street value: $683,000.

In 2014 alone, border agents found 132 pounds of liquid meth concealed in the gas tank of a pickup truck, 14 pounds of meth sealed in cans of hominy — they even discovered meth hidden inside wheels of cheese.

A side effect of the success law enforcement has had reducing domestic production is a dramatic increase in meth coming across the border from Mexico.

Between 2009 and 2014, CBP reported a 300 percent increase in the amount of meth seized at California’s ports of entry. This increase is acutely felt in the San Diego region.

In 2013, San Diego field agents seized nearly 15,000 pounds of meth crossing the border — this accounted for 63 percent of meth seized at all ports of entry nationwide.

And the effects are dire. Over the past five years, the San Diego County medical examiner ruled that meth was a factor in 950 deaths.

The Drug Enforcement Administration now estimates that 90 percent of meth consumed in the United States is produced in Mexico.

Read more here.