As our southern border is made more secure, it becomes more difficult for the cartels and other nefarious people to smuggle drugs into America. Our coastlines provide one opportunity. Years ago, some of southermy friends actually found a mysterious package on Atlantic Beach. When they called the police, and the police investigated, it was a bundle of marijuana that evidently had fallen off a smuggler’s boat. Drug smuggling is not a distant problem.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, The Daily Caller<\/a> reported:<\/p>\n The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) announced a stunning seizure of illicit narcotics seized from \u201ctransnational criminal organizations,\u201d including 23 million potentially lethal doses of cocaine, offloading the massive haul in Port Everglades \u2014 the largest quantity in Coast Guard history.<\/strong><\/p>\n The USCG seized 76,140 pounds of illicit narcotics, valued at $473 million, in 19 interdictions conducted in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, according<\/a> to the USCG announcement Monday. The haul constituted 61,740 pounds of cocaine and around 14,400 pounds of marijuana, with patrols intercepting drug-laden vessels as far away as the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador and other remote parts of the Pacific.<\/strong><\/p>\n The article notes:<\/p>\n President Donald Trump has made a push to crack down on the drug trade, designating a slew of Latin American drug cartels as terrorist organizations and authorizing<\/a> the military to target the groups. Additionally, more military assets are reportedly<\/a> set to deploy to the southern Caribbean to intensify the fight against cartels and the drug trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n The real solution to the drug smuggling is to eliminate the American market, but that may not be possible. Many communities, including the county I live in, make an effort to encourage people caught with illegal drugs to go to a treatment center instead of jail. Unfortunately, drug treatment centers don’t work unless the person wants to end their dependence on drugs. We need to stop drug smuggling, but we also need to find a way that works to help the people addicted to drugs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As our southern border is made more secure, it becomes more difficult for the cartels and other nefarious people to smuggle drugs into America. Our coastlines provide one opportunity. Years ago, some of southermy friends actually found a mysterious package … Continue reading