{
  "id": "R46218",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "R46218",
  "active": true,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 616372,
      "date": "2020-02-07",
      "retrieved": "2020-02-07T23:01:57.343209",
      "title": "Illicit Drug Smuggling Between Ports of Entry and Border Barriers",
      "summary": "Policy discussions around border security often involve questions about how illicit drugs flow into the United States. These include questions about the smugglers, types and quantities of illicit drugs crossing U.S. borders, primary entry points, and methods by which drugs are smuggled. Further, these discussions often center on the shared U.S.-Mexico border, as it is a major conduit through which illicit drugs flow.\nThere are no comprehensive data on the total quantity of foreign-produced illicit drugs smuggled into the United States at or between official ports of entry (POEs) because these are drugs that have generally evaded seizure by border officials. In lieu of these data, officials, policymakers, and analysts sometimes rely on certain drug seizure data to help understand how and where illicit drugs are crossing U.S. borders. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicate that, by weight, more marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl were seized at POEs than between them in FY2019. \nWhile available indicators suggest that drug seizures are more concentrated at POEs, it is the flow of drugs between them that have been a primary topic of recent policy discussions around border security. Specifically, there has been some debate about whether, how, and to what extent physical barriers along the Southwest border between the POEs may deter or alter the smuggling of foreign-produced, illicit drugs into the country. Since the early 1990s, there have been efforts to build pedestrian and vehicle barriers along the Southwest border in part to deter the unauthorized entry of migrants and smugglers. Analysts have suggested that in some cases, smugglers have responded by moving contraband under, over, or through the barriers, as well as around them\u2014including by changing their concealment techniques to move illicit drugs more effectively through POEs.\nDrug smugglers utilize subterranean, cross-border tunnels to move illicit drugs\u2014primarily marijuana\u2014from Mexico into the United States. Their construction has increased in sophistication; tunnels may include amenities such as ventilation, electricity, and railways, and tunnel architects may take advantage of existing infrastructure such as drainage systems.\nTraffickers move contraband over border barriers through myriad mechanisms, from tossing loads by hand and launching bundles from compressed air cannons to driving vehicles on ramps up and over certain types of fencing, as well as employing ultralight aircraft and unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) and drones.\nSmugglers may also attempt to go through various types of border barriers; strategies include cutting holes in the barriers and bribing border officials to provide keys to openings in them.\nSmugglers may also move illicit drugs around border barriers. For instance, along the Southwest border, they may use boats to move contraband around fencing that extends into the Pacific Ocean, move drugs over land areas without constructed barriers, or smuggle goods through the POEs. \nA key question policymakers may ask is what effect an increase in border barrier length or enhancement of barrier style might have on drug smuggling between the POEs. Specifically, they may question whether or how additional border barrier construction might substantially alter drug smugglers\u2019 routes, tactics, speed, or abilities to breach these barriers and bring contraband into the country, and whether or how it has done so in the past. A comprehensive analysis of this issue is confounded by a number of factors, the most fundamental being that the exact quantity of illicit drugs flowing into the United States is unknown. Without this baseline, analysts, enforcement officials, and policymakers rely on other data points to help inform whether or how border barriers may affect illicit drug smuggling.",
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      "typeId": "REPORTS",
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  "topics": [
    "Intelligence and National Security"
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}