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Minor drug busts at border checkpoint breaking Texas county’s budget

Eric L. Olson

This article cites Eric L. Olson who comments on drug smuggling and US Law Enforcement.

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Roughly 8 out of 10 people busted in the sector between 2005 and 2011 were Americans caught at a checkpoint, according to data obtained by The Center for Investigative Reporting. A small fraction of those busts are referred to federal agencies for further investigation and possible prosecution. At the Sierra Blanca station, 88 percent of the seizures – mostly marijuana – were traffic stops for amounts below drug trafficking thresholds.

Nationwide, 3 out of 4 people the U.S. Border Patrol catches with drugs are U.S. citizens. Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., estimates that U.S. law enforcement seizes less than 10 percent of drugs that are smuggled into the country.

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About the Author

Eric L. Olson

Eric L. Olson

Global Fellow;
Director of Policy and Strategic Initiatives, Seattle International Foundation
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Latin America Program

The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action.  Read more