BajaNomad - SENTRI drivers targeted as blind mules

SENTRI drivers targeted as blind mules

mrfatboy - 5-24-2012 at 05:22 AM

http://kfmb.m0bl.net/w/main/story/62172959/

Mexican drug smugglers target unsuspecting drivers
May 23, 2012 11:33 p.m.
SAN DIEGO (CBS8) - Drug smugglers are preying on unsuspecting
drivers by sticking drugs under their cars with magnets, turning innocent border
crossers into drug runners.

Tijuana police demonstrated how it works and say it's the newest
trend in drug smuggling. They say strong magnets are taped onto bricks of drugs
and placed underneath drivers' cars. Those drivers are then used as blind mules
to transport the drugs from Mexico
into the United States.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement in San Diego
says it is aware of the growing problem. ICE spokesperson Lauren Mack tells
News 8, "We are currently investigating a number of incidents where
apprehensions were made involving small boxes of drugs that were smuggled in
using magnets to hold them underneath vehicles, in primarily the SENTRI lanes.
Mack says, "The bottom line is you are responsible to know what's in your car,
so be aware there are these kinds of schemes and be careful what you're
bringing back."

The targets are people like News 8 Associate Producer
Sammy Castanon's mom, who has a SENTRI pass which grants authorized drivers
rapid border crossing. Castanon says, "Drugs found in your car, you have no
idea where they came from how do you explain that? Even if you are innocent,
you know, what are they going to think?"

The smugglers are apparently monitoring SENTRI
drivers to choose the perfect target, then have someone else on this side of
the border follow the driver if they make it through the port of entry, so the
drugs can be quickly retrieved.

Castanon says it's scary knowing there are people
that could be looking at you, especially if his mom goes down there alone.

ICE says it is currently working to identify the
group responsible for this latest scheme, with the goal of dismantling the
organization.

Another scheme drug smugglers are using, involves
hiring people in Mexico
for bogus housekeeping and security guard jobs through classified ads in
Mexican newspapers. The smugglers then give these unsuspecting workers
vehicles, to drive into the United
States. Last month, ICE began putting its
own advertisements in Mexican newspapers to warn readers about that scam.

KASHEYDOG - 5-24-2012 at 07:15 AM

Thanks for the heads up...... Guess we sentri people had better start looking under the car before heading back........

Udo - 5-24-2012 at 07:20 AM

Gracias for the warning, amigo!

bajaguy - 5-24-2012 at 07:39 AM

There was a similar "warning" about a year ago, however the location was Texas.......not sure if this is another "Urban Legend" or it is actual/factual.

It seems unlikely to me that anyone wanting to smuggle drugs into the US would do so in such small quantities for the investment in time and manpower.........

Smugglers would first have to locate a SENTRI vehicle, then determine travel schedules and have people watching the vehicle on both sides of the border........I think this would only work for daily commuters...........

There are easier ways to move drugs and contriband across the border than by SENTRI tagged vehicles

KASHEYDOG - 5-24-2012 at 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy
It seems unlikely to me that anyone wanting to smuggle drugs into the US would do so in such small quantities for the investment in time and manpower.........

There are easier ways to move drugs and contriband across the border than by SENTRI tagged vehicles

Good point, Terry.......But maybe just a couple pounds of cocaine might be worth it....... I have no idea what it takes to get a good return on their investment. You probably have a better idea having been in law enforcement...

durrelllrobert - 5-24-2012 at 08:14 AM

They have also been using strong magnets and divers to attach drugs to bottom of US bound cruise ships and other steel hulled ships. Cartel divers retreive them once they are ported (when they aren't cought)

sancho - 5-24-2012 at 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy

It seems unlikely to me that anyone wanting to smuggle drugs into the US would do so in such small quantities for the investment in time and manpower.........

This also was my first thaught, remember reading of
a few cars that purchased from US Customs, confiscated
smuggling vehicles, Customs had not removed all
drugs, the unsuspecting new owners then were sniffed
out by the dogs when crossing

BooJumMan - 5-25-2012 at 07:14 AM

At first read, this sounds completely bogus.

BajaBruno - 5-26-2012 at 11:51 AM

The source for this article is semi-reliable (San Diego News8), but I cannot find anything in government papers that documents using magnets on vehicles or ships in this way, so it may be a recent phenomenon, or unusual. Considering that the cartels smuggle marijuana by the ton through cross-border tunnels, this technique seems rather unsophisticated and low-brow.

More disturbing are the comments of ICE that, "The bottom line is you are responsible to know what's in your car..." suggesting that even an unwitting smuggler would be arrested. Drug smuggling is a specific intent crime, which means that the driver must "knowingly or intentionally import a controlled substance." I would hope that ICE is aware of this.

BajaNomad - 5-26-2012 at 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajaguy
not sure if this is another "Urban Legend" or it is actual/factual.

http://forums.bajanomad.com/viewthread.php?tid=60310

bajachris - 5-26-2012 at 12:48 PM

Wonder how they will get it off your car if it is garaged in the US? Hmmmm.

DENNIS - 5-26-2012 at 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bajachris
Wonder how they will get it off your car if it is garaged in the US? Hmmmm.

They wouldn't pick a mule at random and will know more about your driving habits than you do. They'll know where the car is parked on any given day and will pick their time to gather their property.
I doubt, however, the car would ever leave their sight until that time.

woody with a view - 5-26-2012 at 01:00 PM

it might be some low level turd trying to get a few pounds across at a time. prolly too small for the cartel to mess with.

DENNIS - 5-26-2012 at 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by woody with a view
it might be some low level turd trying to get a few pounds across at a time. prolly too small for the cartel to mess with.

I know this info is dated....about twelve years old, but it's really interesting and is part of an exhaustive study on the drug business. You can get to the whole thing by following the headers and links.

This particular episode addresses what you just mentioned, Woody..... the expected loss at the border.

I hope you folks will take the time to read this. It's an eye-opener.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/intervie...

.

[Edited on 5-26-2012 by DENNIS]

BajaBruno - 5-26-2012 at 02:48 PM

That is an amazing interview article, Dennis. Thanks.

DENNIS - 5-26-2012 at 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by BajaBruno
That is an amazing interview article, Dennis. Thanks.

Thanks, Bruno. It kinda slows down the self-righteousness that we all feel when we hear about the dirty customs agents. Does for me anyway.
I've been studying these issues a lot lately....trying to establish through available information how complicit the US has been in the development of the cartels. It's pretty scarey. Ollie North and the Iran-Contra Affair are a big part of it all.
I never did buy the given reason for the guns being delivered to the cartels by the US government..."Fast and Furious." For some unknown reason, they don't want to investigate it.......probably because it would implicate too many important people.
It's a bunch of shtt, really.

BajaBruno - 5-26-2012 at 05:13 PM

You could become very depressed delving into that can of sewage, Dennis! The DEA does not like the CIA, because as DEA tries to stem the flow of drugs to the U.S., the CIA has helped the smugglers to move the product. They then use the smuggler's money to finance unauthorized operations, or, at least, this was true in Central America and Thailand.

The ATF has a long history as a rather muddled agency, which may stem from its roots as tax enforcement arm (Dept. of Treasury) rather than a real law enforcement agency. With the recent move under the umbrella of the Dept. of Justice it is overshadowed by the FBI, which has historically had little regard for ATF. "Fast and Furious" is just another example of a poorly thought out and executed operations by ATF. This is not to say that ATF doesn't have some very capable people, because it does, but the leadership is not ripe with them.