XAVIER ZARAGOZA/The Daily Dispatch

Drug smugglers have a variety of methods of transporting narcotics across the border.

One of the recent favorites is the 'drive-through,' the technique of loading a pick-up truck with half a ton or more of marijuana, blasting through the international boundary and racing to a stash house before law enforcement can get them.

According to an ICE agent, there has been on average one drive-through a day in Douglas for the last three months.

Some of these smugglers are successful; many, however, are not.

"Once they see law enforcement they'll turn back to Mexico," the ICE agent said.

And that's a good thing. Although the agents didn't seize the drugs, they did keep it from coming into the United States.

"It's a win for us and a loss for them," he said.

But when smugglers do get through, they create other problems such as endangering the public when smugglers speed through streets in an effort to get away from agents.

ICE agents, Border Patrol and Douglas police try to steer the chase into the outskirts of town in order to minimize the danger to the public.

Often times these chases turn the smugglers back across the border.

"But if they(smugglers) happen to kill someone during the chase, we will attach homicide charges along with trafficking charges," he said.

Although drive-throughs are not new, the nature of smuggling has changed.

Before, during the 1970s, the agent said, a smuggler attempting a drive-through would use an Impala or an LTD and load anywhere from 500 to 600 pounds of marijuana into the trunk.

Now, the Impalas have turned into stolen pick-up trucks loaded with 1000 pounds or more of marijuana.

"The smugglers have become much more violent," he said. "They don't care about property or people. They'll do anything to get the drugs across or to avoid capture."

Recently, the ICE agent had a smuggler attempt to run him over during an arrest. The smuggler's vehicle plowed through the front end of the agent's truck, ripping out the bumper.

"We're dealing with an explosive situation where smugglers carry guns and don't care if they hurt anyone," he said.

As smugglers become more embolden, or perhaps more desperate, they will attempt any method of smuggling so long as it increases their success rate.

"For now they'll continue the drive-through until they can figure something else," he said.