Meth seizures at US-Mexico border on the rise

Originally published on January 5, 2015

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said 14,732 pounds of meth were seized in San Diego in 2014, representing a 300 percent increase in meth seizures since 2009.

The amount of meth seized at California border ports account for 63 percent of total meth seized in the country, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

“The Mexican cartels are flooding the U.S. marketplace with their cheap methamphetamine,” Gary Hill, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s assistant special agent in charge in San Diego told the paper.

The current price of meth is about $3,500 per pound versus $11,800 for a pound of cocaine. The cost of meth has reportedly been dropping since 2008.

It is estimated that 90 percent of the meth consumed in the U.S. is manufactured in Mexico, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. The drugs are typically smuggled into the country by pedestrians or hidden in food cans, as well as in liquid forms.