Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Smugglers’ stupidity?

Something about this news piece struck me as odd:

Smugglers tried to use Hurricane Dolly as a cover in at least three attempts to move drugs or illegal aliens through Texas, border officials said Wednesday.

About 9,600 pounds of marijuana was found buried under cotton seeds on a truck on U.S. 77 at the Border Patrol's Sarita checkpoint south of Kingsville, Texas, said Lloyd Easterling, a spokesman for Customs and Border Protection…

In two of the incidents, people were caught smuggling illegal immigrants in South Texas, (Jayson Ahern, deputy commissioner of Customs and Border Protection) said. One case involved six people. He did not have details on the second incident, Ahern said.

Not to condone the criminal activities of the smugglers or to politicize the issue of immigration, but wouldn't a hurricane be one of the dumbest “covers” for trying to smuggle anything across the border.

  • Immigration checkpoints would continue to be duly staffed by Border Patrol agents.
  • The decrease in traffic due to inclement weather would make it easier to conduct border searches.
  • Trying to transport nearly five tons of pot anywhere at anytime is ridiculously risky.
  • Driving during a hurricane or tropical storm tends to lead to accidents.
  • In the words of comedian Ron White “it isn't *that* the wind is blowin'. It's *what* the wind is blowin’.” In short, heavy items generally tend to fly off during a hurricane and hit things such as people.

What do you think?

Image- BBC News (“Towns and cities in the Rio Grande Valley in southern Texas are on alert in case heavy rain causes flooding. Up to 38cm (15in) of rain is expected.”)

Sources- CNN, imdb.com


1 comment:

Miguel said...

If I were smuggling drugs I would wait for less harsh inclement weather.