Public Safety

Record Pot Seizure Total Grows

By Amy Isackson / Border Reporter

Published October 19, 2010 at 2:19 PM PDT

This story was published more than 14 years ago.

Record Pot Seizure Total Grows

Mexican federal police say Monday's marijuana seizure in Tijuana is the country's largest pot seizure ever. Authorities seized more pot than the 105 tons they initially reported.

Mexican federal police say Monday's marijuana seizure in Tijuana is the country's largest pot seizure ever.

Authorities say the historic haul has grown by about 30 tons as they've continued weighing it in. That makes for a total of more than 135 tons packed into 15,000 packages.

Mexican authorities tabulate that amount could have been made into more than 52.5 million joints.

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Mexican officials say there's evidence to suggest the drugs belonged to the Sinaloa Cartel.

It's headed by Joquin Guzman Loera, or El Chapo. He's Mexico's most wanted man. El Chapo's group has tried unsuccessfully to move into Tijuana over the years.

The city has traditionally been Arellano Felix cartel turf. However, a series of arrests has weakened the group.

Analysts on both sides of the border have speculated the cartel is too weak to prevent others from encroaching on their territory. However, last week, authorities in Tijuana said no new cartels have moved into the city.

Tijuana authorities say some of the smaller drug gangs in the city have Sinaloa's backing.

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Public Safety Drug War Tijuana

Amy Isackson

Amy Isackson was the border reporter at KPBS from 2004 to 2011. She covered breaking news and feature stories on California-Mexico border issues and immigration, for local and national broadcast. Amy got her start in public radio by pitching a series of stories about rural New Zealand - horse dentistry and sheep sheering - to Radio New Zealand's "Country Life" program. She then worked with Peabody Award-winning radio producers Nikki Silva and Davia Nelson, to help create the Sonic Memorial, a series of stories on the World Trade Center before, during and after 9/11. Amy's work has been recognized with awards from the Associated Press Television-Radio Association of California and Nevada, the California Chicano News Media Association, and the San Diego Press Club. She won the Sol Price Prize for Responsible Journalism in 2009 from the Society of Professional Journalists for her story about high school students smuggling people and drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Prior to venturing into the wonderful world of public radio, Amy worked for Yahoo! Inc. for nearly five years as an editorial surfer, associate producer and broadcast communications manager. She majored in Latin American History at Williams College. She grew up in San Diego and made frequent trips south of the border.

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