Cocaine Seizure in Southern Mexico Points to New Trend

A recent cocaine seizure in southern Mexico points to a new trend as traffickers have increased land smuggling operations in response to the aggressive interdiction actions taken by the U.S. government, which have sunk numerous vessels in international waters.

The seizure took place this week in the southern Mexican border city of Tapachula, Chiapas, when Mexican federal authorities seized 202 bricks of cocaine hidden in a late model Jeep Patriot. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Mexico’s government, military forces intercepted the vehicle, and during a search, they found a series of hidden compartments with multiple bricks of cocaine. Authorities then arrested the driver and turned him over to federal investigators for prosecution.

While cocaine shipments hidden in vehicle compartments are commonplace in the border crossings between Mexico and the United States, they are rare in the country’s southern border. This is due to the fact that traditionally, drug cartels would routinely receive multi-ton shipments of cocaine by sea from Central and South American traffickers.

Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on this tactic, where small speedboats would pull up to Mexico’s western coast, dropping off drug shipments that were then eventually moved by land to Mexico’s northern border.

That tactic has been affected by the U.S. government, which has been using aircraft and drones to sink drug boats. As Breitbart Texas reported, under the Trump administration, the U.S. government sank dozens of drug shipments headed to Mexico. The move has even drawn protests from Mexico’s government, whose president, Claudia Sheinbaum, has claimed that using the military in direct actions against drug cartels violates the rights of traffickers, Breitbart Texas reported.

Mexican law enforcement sources who spoke with Breitbart Texas revealed that the increase in land smuggling operations through the southern border is a direct response to the difficulties faced by traffickers looking to move drugs by sea.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.