The Battalion
February 24, 1983/Page 1B
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United Press International
BROWNSVILLE — Mari-
uana seizures in Brownsville
|ve increased fourfold over
levious years, partially as a
(Itsequence of the much-
Iblicized Florida drug crack-
Iwn which is forcing sinug-
fers to reroute their contra-
Ind through South Texas.
1 Local Drug Enforcement
Bministration officials say,
Iwever, local citizens need
iOt despair. DEA officials said
Bulf Coast task force similar
(|ihe one in Florida is being
pfcanized and should he
|)p(idting by the end of the
Inth. It will include the Val-
y in its surveillance.
J The dramatic increase in
S<|al marijuana traffic mir-
|'(l's trends f rom areas such as
tHouslon, where U.S. Customs
joficials recently reported
wit seizures had tripled — a
Bcnomenon they also attri-
Jjlted to the activities of the
.Florida task force.
I M arijuana is seasonal, with
tht peak traffic generally
pa Hi ring in the last quarter
;o| each year, said James Pul-
ki , Brownsville DEA special
Tsnt in charge.
■Between October and De
cember of 1981, the Brown
sville DEA office dealt with
1|04 pounds of marijuana
■uii was seized In federal
and local authorities. In the
same period of 1982, 605
pounds was confiscated — a
fourfold increase.
drug smugglers
to Texas ports
McAllen DEA officials also
said there had been large in
creases there in recent
months.
Cocaine traffic also in
creased dramatically. Be
tween July and December of
1982, local seizures in which
the Brownsville DEA was in
volved amounted to 7 pounds
of cocaine, as compared to
only a few ounces during the
same period of 1981.
“Part of the reason for the
overall increase in traffic is the
Florida task force,” Pullen
said. “The economic prob
lems in Mexico are also re
sponsible f or some of this traf
fic. Alter all, marijuana smug
gling is a money-making oper
ation.”
The Florida task force was
organized by President
Reagan as part of his cam
paign against illegal drugs.
Comprised of officers from
different federal agencies, the
task force began its work in
March of last year, waging
what can only be termed an
all-out war on drug smug
glers.
“ I he Navy flies surveill
ance airplanes around the
clock, searching for unautho
rized aircraft,” said Brent
Eaton, Miami DEA special
agent assigned to the Elorida
task force.
“The Air Force monitors
the skies using its sophisti
cated Norad radar system.
The Army provides us with
any additional equipment we
may need including helicop
ters. The Coast Guard, of
course, patrols the seas con
tinuously for suspicious-
looking vessels.”
Civilian agencies working
with the task ,force include the
U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, U.S. Cus
toms, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms, Fed
eral Bureau of Investigation
and even the U.S. Treasury,
Eaton said.
Besides stemming the flow
by catching smugglers with
the goods, the task force is ex
ploring other methods of cur
tailing contraband. Operation
Greenback, an investigative
force headed up by the Inter
nal Revenue Service and U.S.
Customs, has been probing
into money-laundering
schemes, for example.
“Their investigations some
times help us trace the money
back to the drugs and make
our work easier,” Eaton said.
If the task force is unable to
catch some of these smugglers
with drugs, the IRS can some
times put them out of circula
tion by compiling cases
against them based on their
finances.
The task force has proved
so effective that the federal
government is planning to
assemble 12 other such forces
to be deployed throughout
the country.
Border economy improving
United Press International
EL PASO — Industrialists
from throughout the United
States are expressing great in
terest in following the example
of other firms who have estab
lished “twin” of fices in Mexico
and along the American side of
the border.
The devaluations of Mexico’s
peso have provided the impetus
for companies flooding the
Chamber of Commerce with in
quiries about establishing
assembly plants across the bor
der in Juarez, Mexico.
An El Paso chamber spokes
man said this week American
border cities profit from the
Mexican plants because the
firms usually establish an admi
nistrative office on the U.S. side,
increasing transportation and
other services.
Among the enticements for
the “maquiladaras,” or assembly
plants, is the fact the average
Mexican factory w age, including
fringe benefits, is less than 94
cents an hour.
Cities all along the border are
enticing industrialists to estab
lish the plants, arguing that it
Mexican twin plant will keep an
American industrialist competi
tive with Japanese and Asian
Firms.
In El Paso and other Amer
ican border cit ies the companies
are called “twin plants” because
they usually are connected with
a companion firm in the United
States.
Under the twin-plant idea,
the American manufacturer ex
ports components to the Mex
ican plant for assembly, then
brings the completed compo
nents back across the border for
sale in the United States.
U.S. tariff guidelines allow
American industrialists to bring
the processed or assembled pro
ducts back dutyfree, except for
the value added by processing in
Mexico.
Mexico initiated the program
in 1965 as a means of providing
jobs and improving the border
economy.
More than 45,000 workers
are employed in 124 of the “twin
plants” in Juarez, Mexico, across
the border from El Paso. The
second largest number of em
ployees is in Tijuana, Mexico,
across the border from San
Diego. There are 143 plants in
Tijuana, mostly small Firms em
ploying a total of about 15,000
people, according to the latest
chamber reports.
The program is not without
its detractors. Labor unions
argue the twin plants are unfair
competition, creating a loss of
jobs in the United States.
William Mitchell, marketing
director for a group of the twin
plants in Juarez, said rather than
create a loss of jobs, the twin
plants “are keeping many Amer
ican companies in business.”
“Twin plants protect jobs in
the United States,” he said. “If
an American Firm can’t compete
successfully with a Hong Kong
operation, it would be forced
out of business and many more
jobs would be lost in the States.”
There are 59 twin plants em
ploying 21,734 people in
Nogales, Sonora, across the bor
der from Nogales, Ariz. Mata-
moros, across from Brownsville,
Texas, has 45 plants and 15,238
employees.
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SPECIAL
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Salisoury Steak
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CULPEPPER PLAZA
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