For more than a year, the closure of the southern border to nonessential traffic has sharply limited the number of foreign citizens entering the US by land. US citizens were apprehended nearly seven times more often than Mexican citizens between October 2020 and March 31 for trying to smuggle drugs in vehicles, US Customs and Border Protection data shows. Most illegal drugs in the U.S., particularly narcotics, enter at the southern border. U.S. citizens had been apprehended about 2400 times by late March for drug smuggling during inspections of vehicles crossing those checkpoints. Cantu estimates the number of cases he's handled of U.S. citizens facing drug smuggling charges has doubled since 2019.

Source: New Zealand Herald May 31, 2021 21:33 UTC