Last month, Border Patrol agents seized 160 pounds of cocaine worth $5 million from a truck at a Sierra Blanca, Texas checkpoint. They also seized 50 pounds of marijuana, $150,000 in cash, 25 pounds of cough syrup, and a loaded gun.
This is the type of story that makes people feel good when they read it. It makes them think that the Border Patrol is really doing its job, that its methods must be working. Yet while the Border Patrol may sometimes find drugs in a way that does not trigger a Fourth Amendment challenge, this blog has pointed out the ways in which law enforcement has used ridiculous post-hoc reasons for searching and seizing from a vehicle. There is too much opportunity for abuse. People should not have to worry about their privacy every time they cross the border.
Just how effective is the Border Patrol anyway? The U.S. border with Mexico is 2,000 miles long, and the Border Patrol has 20,500 agents guarding 700 miles of it. It is the most frequently crossed border in the world, with 350 million crossings per year. A lot of the action takes place in Sierra Blanca, where Interstate 10 meets a border checkpoint. Yet with so many crossings and so few miles guarded, the Border Patrol can't hope to ever scrutinize all border activity. So many drug smugglers find ways to evade the checkpoints and get their cargo across the border. (That does not even include the smugglers who make deals with corrupt agents for safe passage across.) Maybe to overcompensate for what they can't control, Border Patrol agents find reasons to stop and search ordinary citizens at checkpoints. Many of these people probably showed no sign of suspicious behavior. Yet all at once, they find themselves at a state or federal courthouse, facing the threat of prison time.
People in Texas who are arrested after a car search should not attempt to represent themselves. They should find an experienced federal criminal defense attorney right away. Only a federal defense attorney with years of working on search and seizure cases can give them the help they need. And the next time you read about the Border Patrol finding drugs, remember that there is another, less rosy, side to the story.
