The United States Border Patrol recognized that migrants who try to cross the border of this country with Mexico are used by drug traffickers as a decoy to distract their units and cross drugs through unmonitored parts.
During a virtual press conference, the head of the Border Patrol, Jason Owens, reported that drug trafficking cartels have perfected this system, taking advantage of the large wave of migration that has hit the southern border of the United States since the pandemic.
“Many times what they do is try to pass people in areas where they know we are going to be and while we are doing that, they are in another part of the border passing the narcotics. It is something that they do in a normal way,” said the US official.
Owens explained that organized crime benefits from both drug and human trafficking, and they make money either by getting migrants across the border, or by passing narcotics during the distraction in which units focus on migrants. .
“The cartels that are passing narcotics and drugs are also operating in the matter of passing people, they are operating on both sides, for them it is just a matter of money,” he explained.
The official added that Border Patrol agents give priority to monitoring the regions where migrants transit, since their lives may be at risk.
“The cartels know that and take advantage of it,” he added.
For his part, Blas Núñez-Neto, Undersecretary of Border Policy and Immigration of the Department of Security, explained that Joe Biden’s government still hopes that the US Senate will approve the bipartisan agreement on migration.
This agreement, which was rejected last Wednesday, February 14, is necessary so that the US authorities can have the resources they need to reinforce the measures that aim to address the growing migratory flows.
“We are going to continue insisting that Congress and the Republican Party stop playing political games and confront the problem we have with our immigration laws, which are contributing to what we are seeing at the border,” the official said.
Finally, he closed by stating that his government continues to “impose serious consequences for people who cross the border illegally.”
#drug #trafficking #migrants #smuggle #drugs
