Paul Coverdell: “the Los Angeles Times ran an article today, May 13, 1996, and it is just a stunning article. Drug Runners Arrested at…”

“the Los Angeles Times ran an article today, May 13, 1996, and it is just a stunning article. Drug Runners Arrested at Border Often Go Free (By H.G. Reza) San Diego.--During the federal government's yearlong narcotics crackdown along the Southwest border; hundreds of suspected smugglers have been allowed to go free after U.S. authorities arrested them with substantial quantities of drugs at ports of entry in California. In the past year, about 2,300 suspected traffickers were taken into custody for bringing drugs across the border but, according to records and interviews, more than one in four were simply sent home to Mexico because of jail overcrowding and prosecutorial discretion. Two suspects with 32 pounds of methamphetamine, and another with 37,000 Quaalude tablets, were simply ``excluded'' from the United States after their drugs and vehicles were confiscated. The handling of drug cases at the border, most involving at least 50 pounds of marijuana, reflects shifting and sometimes conflicting pressures on the federal law enforcement community.”