President Trump says his proposed border wall would help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the United States. But a DEA intelligence report says the drugs coming into the U.S. Northeast often arrive by plane, boat, or hidden in vehicles, according to Foreign Policy. A 24-page report prepared by the DEA in May found that drugs coming from Mexico often enter through the southwestern border, but they do so concealed in vehicles, like tractor-trailers. Drugs coming from Colombia are more often transported by plane and boat, the reports notes.
Transnational criminal organizations “generally route larger drug shipments destined for the Northeast through the Bahamas and/or South Florida by using a variety of maritime conveyance methods, to include speedboats, fishing vessels, sailboats, yachts, and containerized sea cargo,” the reports reads. “In some cases, Dominican Republic-based traffickers will also transport cocaine into Haiti for subsequent shipment to the United States via the Bahamas and/or South Florida corridor using maritime and air transport.” On Monday, Trump said, “The drugs are pouring in at levels like nobody has ever seen…We’ll be able to stop them once the wall is up.” But the DEA report said many drugs arrive inside the U.S. via airplanes, often carried by human couriers on commercial flights, sometimes with the help of airline employees. Other drugs are transported by boat from the Bahamas or Venezuela through Miami.