Methamphetamine seizures along the California-Mexico border soared to new highs in the fiscal year 2014, as narcotics smuggling cartels sought to benefit from the cost advantages of producing the drug south of the frontier.
The San Diego field office of U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 14,732 pounds of methamphetamine during the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. That accounts for 63% of all seizures of the drug at U.S. ports of entry nationwide.
Authorities have found the drug strapped to pedestrians or hidden in food cans, as well as in liquid form, passed off as windshield washer fluid.
Photos: Documenting Immigration From Both Sides of the Border
A woman and her child from Central America are apprehended just after crossing the Rio Grande, Hidalgo, Texas, June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceWomen and children from Central America are apprehended just after crossing the Rio Grande, Hidalgo, Texas, June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceBorder Patrol Agents respond to a call near a section of the border fence in Hidalgo, Texas on Feb. 13, 2013. Kirsten LuceBorder Patrol vehicles respond to a call on the banks of the Rio Grande in Hidalgo, Texas on June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceThe old border fence where scouts watch for border patrol activity and aid drug or migrant traffickers in Tijuana, Mexico, Feb. 14, 2013. Kirsten LuceA border patrol vehicle on the remote terrain along the border in Southern California, east of San Diego, Feb. 15, 2013. Kirsten LuceBorder Patrol agents patrol the floodplain along the banks of the Rio Grande, south of Mission, Texas on Feb. 13, 2013. Kirsten LuceBorder Patrol agents patrol the thick brush along the banks of the Rio Grande south of Mission, Texas on Feb. 13, 2013. Kirsten LuceWomen and children from Central America are apprehended just after crossing the Rio Grande into Hidalgo, Texas on June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceWomen and children from Central America are apprehended just after crossing the Rio Grande into Hidalgo, Texas on June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceThe belongings of women and children apprehended after crossing the Rio Grande into Texas, collected and bagged by Border Patrol, Hidalgo, Texas, June 24, 2014. Kirsten LuceMigrants run from a gap in the border fence to a waiting car in the early morning in Penitas, Texas, Feb. 14, 2013. Kirsten LuceAn aerial of jeep trails in the United States (bottom), in an area that was once a popular crossing point into the United States from Tijuana, Mexico (top), Feb. 15, 2013. Kirsten LuceThe westernmost edge of the border extends into the Pacific Ocean separating Tijuana, Mexico and California.Kirsten Luce
