Best way to catch an illegal? A Bullet.

My friend, Ben, works for the Border Patrol in Ajo, Arizona. His unit recently confiscated some horses from drug runners in the area, and the animals have now been transformed into agents of our federal government. Instead of roaming the desert in his 4x4, Ben now mounts his faithful steed, Bullet, to run his patrols in search of illegals; and apparently, Bullet is just as excited about catching the bad guys as Ben is.

Ben loves his job, but he does, occasionally, become dispirited with the handling of our border security. He’s told me that for every truck seized, 4 more cross the border unhindered. The agents know it, but there’s not much they can do to stop it. There simply is not enough manpower or resources to catch them all. The drug lords have scouts on every mountain top fully outfitted with nightvision and radio communications. They watch every move our boys make, and counter by relaying to runners the best routes to avoid being caught.

According to the DEA, here are the official statistics of the amounts of confiscated drugs in Arizona for 2006 alone:

12.5 lbs of Hashish
188.5 lbs of Heroine
1,472.5 lbs of Methamphetamine
6,655.9 lbs of Cocaine
777,499.8 lbs of Marijuana

If the CBP are only catching 20% of those crossing the border, imagine how many drugs are actually making it to the streets to be sold to our kids.

I’ve got several theories that would explain why our government is so sedentary in their attitude toward our borders, but I think I’ll save those for another day. Besides, you might think I’m nutsier than I already know you think I am.