Marijuana Shipments to the U.S.

'Nightline' GrantedExclusive Access to U.S.Drug Enforcement Officials,Learns Mexican DrugCartels Trying to ExpandMarijuana Shipments to theU.S. ExclusiveAccess toDEA AgentsUncoversMassiveMexicanDrugCartelShipmentsA "Nightline" investigation has discoveredthat Mexican cartels have recently beentrying to expand marijuana shipments intothe United States by the tens of thousands."Nightline" was granted exclusive andunprecedented access to U.S. DEA agentsand Customs and Border Protection officerswho interdict, store and destroy tons ofmarijuana.Our investigation takes a look at the scaleand reach of the Mexican cartels who arefueled by 25.8 million American marijuanausers.Government investigators estimate that thecartels have boosted their production by awhopping 59 percent since 2003, leadingthem to conclude that the Mexicanorganizations "represent the single greatestdrug trafficking threat to the United States,"an official said. Officials estimate that thedrug cartels' profits are between $18 and$39 billion annually.According to Mexican and U.S. officials(who requested that their names and ranksnot be used), marijuana smuggling hascontributed to 35,000 deaths along theborder in the past five years.These discoveries come on the heels of abill being introduced in the House by Reps.Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) to remove the federal roadblock tostate marijuana reform."Nightline" was present in the midst of atwo-week stretch of U.S. officials'destroying more than $100 million worth ofmarijuana at two top-secret facilities in anundisclosed location in the AmericanSouthwest.Watch the full report on "Nightline"tonight at 11:35 p.m. ETOur cameras rolled as Customs and Borderpatrol agents stopped an 18-wheelercarrying furniture. But an X-ray of thepottery and wooden furniture inside thecargo hold showed something else."We pried open the ottoman and we foundnine cylinder-shaped packages containingmarijuana," said Supervising Officer AlbertoFlores of Customs and Border protection.Officers went to work slicing open morethan 100 ottomans that were packed with900 containers of marijuana. There wasabout 2,300 pounds of marijuana in thisone shipment -- more than a ton."Marijuana is the No. 1 cash crop for thecartels in Mexico," said assistant specialDEA agent Mel Rodriguez. "The moneys,the proceeds from the sale of the marijuanaultimately go to finance other illegalactivities for the cartel, such as [the]purchase of weapons and additionalresources.""Additional resources" include fundingarmies of criminals who have fought theU.S. and Mexican governments.U.S. officials use a variety of tools to findcontraband, including an army of agents,Border Patrol's drug-sniffing dogs, mobileX-ray machines, even special cameras toslide down gas tanks to hunt for drugs."We find sometimes narcotics insidebatteries, inside carburetors, manifolds,underneath dashes, inside air conditioningcompressors, inside tires, in the roof. I justcan't think of all the places we have foundthem," said Port of Laredo acting directorJose Uribe.Drug lords use every tactic to transportdrugs, cash and guns: submarines, tunnels,ultra-light planes. They also still use menon foot -- so-called "mules."After U.S. agents seize the drugs, they aremoved into a secret facility -- one of themost restricted government rooms in thenation that, until now, no televisionjournalist had ever been allowed in before.We had to sign papers just to walk fromroom to room, and no employee workingthere could be identified in our report.U.S. Officials Burn Several Tons ofMarijuana Siezed From Mexican DrugCartelsAbout $59 million worth of marijuana andevery other drug you can imagine beingcaptured coming in from Mexico is storedin this secret vault: cocaine, crystalmethamphetamine, heroin. An agentpointed to a pack of 31 pounds of black tarheroin. "Estimated street value about $1million," he said.We were granted a ride-along with a DEAcaravan transporting confiscated drugs,with armed guards behind the wheel.Assistant special DEA agent Mel Rodriguezexplained that the particular load we weretraveling with was 320 pounds of drugs thatwas passed off to the DEA by Borderpatrol."They encountered six individuals who hadjust crossed over with duffel bags," heexplained. "As soon as Border patrolapproached them, they wound up droppingthe duffel bags and jumping back into theriver and swimming back to Mexico."At some point the U.S. government has todestroy the drugs. DEA officers took"Nightline" inside another top-secretlocation where the agency was in theprocess of destroying 50,000 pounds, or 25tons, of marijuana. Just like with the othervault, we were not allowed to disclose itslocation nor identify who worked there.The vault is well protected with cement andsteel. Surveillance cameras are everywhere,not to mention the throngs of armed DEAagents all over the place. Each cache ofmarijuana must be accounted for and isgiven a number as it is brought inside.There is so much marijuana in the facilitythat the drugs have to be moved by aforklift.When it is time to destroy a haul, themarijuana is carried by forklift, thendumped into a large shredder before beingfed into two huge incinerators and burnedat more than 1,800 degrees. Some of theagents have even nicknamed theincinerators Dorothy and Bong 1.After the marijuana is burned to ash, it isplaced into barrels. Only steam from theheat of the incinerators is released into theatmosphere as millions and millions ofdrugs go up in smoke. 'Nightline' GrantedExclusive Access to U.S.Drug Enforcement Officials,Learns Mexican DrugCartels Trying to ExpandMarijuana Shipments to theU.S.