Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Environment
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
U.S. called ill equipped for Mexico border crackdown
Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:12pm EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Tim Gaynor
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - U.S. authorities at Arizona's six ports of entry along the Mexican border are ill equipped to screen vehicles and trains crossing into Mexico for smuggled weapons and cash, a U.S. official said on Monday.
The Obama administration last week announced plans to crack down on the smuggling of guns and money pouring south from the United States into Mexico that are helping to fuel violence by Mexican drug cartels.
The administration said it will intensify inspections of southbound traffic, with every rail shipment to Mexico due to be inspected, mobile X-ray units to inspect cars, and advanced license-plate readers to identify known smugglers.
But David Higgerson, director of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency's field operations in Arizona, said the state's ports of entry were built to screen traffic heading north from Mexico.
"The obvious problem is and always has been (that) the ports were never built to check stuff going south. It was always considered to be not really our problem," Higgerson said in an interview.
"Well, it is our problem obviously with the cartels and all the other stuff that's going on," Higgerson added.
Department of Homeland Security officials say they are confident the announced measures and other steps will do the job. "We are mobilizing technologies and personnel to assist with the southbound inspections," spokeswoman Amy Kudwa said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will have a chance to see the border facilities in a trip to the U.S. Southwest this week, Kudwa said.
MAJOR SMUGGLING CORRIDOR
The desert state of Arizona is a major corridor for northbound smuggling of drugs and migrants and southbound trafficking in illegal firearms and bulk cash from drug sales.
The drug gangs are blamed for the deaths of more than 7,000 people in Mexico since the beginning of 2008.
Higgerson's agency is charged with monitoring traffic and pedestrians crossing through the six ports of entry on the Arizona-Mexico border as well as international airports in Phoenix and Tucson. He said current southbound inspections were limited to intermittent "pulse and surge" operations.
These ports of entry have no facilities to adequately screen border crossers, cargo traffic or freight trains bound for Mexico, Higgerson added.
"What about cargo? We don't have facilities to check cargo going into Mexico. If you're going to smuggle guns, are you going to smuggle them in a car or in a truck? Again we have nothing in our southbound to check cargo," he said.
"Same with trains ... going south, if we see an anomaly, all we can do is tell Mexican customs, because two seconds later it's in Mexico. They were never designed for going south, the ports were never designed to do it." Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Philippines imposes emergency rule on rebel island
Also On Reuters
NASA in Colbert conundrum over Space Station name
Wagoner's exit puts Bank of America CEO Lewis in hotseat
Send Questions: Ask the World Bank President
More International News
Pakistan Taliban claim responsibility for Lahore raid
| Video
Obama bringing hefty agenda on European trip
Iran and U.S. set to clash over troops at Afghan talks
North Korea to try U.S. journalists as launch nears
Medvedev charts path to better Russian-U.S. ties
More International News...
Related News
Mexico rules out joint border patrols with U.S.
30 Mar 2009
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
G20 not ready yet for new world currency debate
Obama team drops "war on terror" rhetoric
Wagoner's exit puts BofA CEO Lewis in hotseat
Fox News' Bill O'Reilly boycotting Sean Penn films
Asia stocks set for biggest jump in a decade
U.S. recession seen not yet bottoming
Frustrated Americans cheer Obama's tough auto moves
GM bankruptcy threat could break talks impasse
NASA in Colbert conundrum over Space Station
Obama bringing hefty agenda on European trip
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Madonna in Malawi court
Loincloths hot among Japan woman
Illusionist floats in mid-air
Business Update: Wall St. slumps
Obama rejects GM, Chrysler plans
Pizza vending machine
Obama hits the brakes on autos
The Awakening in the balance
Obama defends budget and dollar
And Finally Village for Sale
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Your opinion matters
We want to hear from you Learn More
Take Reuters online survey
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Interactive TV |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.