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走私

用空运邮件把宠物从哥伦比亚送到纽约并非什么新鲜事，但去年12月，一只空运而来的4岁牧羊犬引起了纽约肯尼迪海关一位检查员的注意。这只狗看上去已奄奄一息，而在它身体的一侧有一个可疑的肿块。通过X射线检查和外科手术，发现狗的腹内被植入了10个避孕套，里面塞满了总计5英磅的可卡因——这是反毒战争中该海关创下的又一个第一。

说到运输毒品，走私者用尽了各种可以想象得到的办法，大块的可卡因常被隐藏在装运毒蛇箱子的假底板下面。“有时你面对的是12英尺长的蛇，”一位美国海关的鱼类及野生动物检查员说——毒品有时就藏在蛇腹中——“谁会把它弄出来检查检查呢？”

1994年，美国海关共查获204391磅可卡因，559289磅大麻以及2577磅海洛因，实际流入这个国家的毒品数量不得而知。一些海关官员估计，大约只有10%偷运进来的毒品被查获。在迈阿密，地方检察官对那持少量毒品的人甚至不予起诉。“只有数量超过5公斤可卡因、1公斤海洛因、5000磅以上的大座，或是事情已引起新闻界的关注，我们无法阻止时才会予以起诉。”退休官员汤姆?卡什说。

面对如此庞大的毒品走私数量，人们只能怀疑海关究竟是否被走私者采用的花招搞糊涂了。“只有我们没见过的方法，”迈阿密海关特别官员约翰?麦克希说，“但从没有什么令我们真正吃惊。”

Smuggling

It is not unusual for a pet to be sent by air cargo from Colombia to New York, but last December’s shipment of a 4-year-old sheep dog caught a New York Kennedy Airport Customs inspector's eye. The dog looked to be on its last legs, and there was an unusual lump on the side of its body. An X-ray and emergency surgery revealed the presence of 10 condoms tightly packed with five pounds of cocaine that had been surgically implanted in the dog's abdomen—yet another first for Customs in the war on drugs.

When it comes to transporting drugs, the methods used are only as limited as a smuggler’s imagination. Kilo bricks of cocaine are routinely concealed beneath false bottoms of containers that hold poisonous snakes. “You’ve got snakes that are 12 feet long,” says a United States Fish and Wildlife Service agent—and sometimes the drug is in the snake. “Who's going to pull it out and feel it? “

In 1994, United States Customs seized 204, 391 pounds of cocaine, 559, 286 pounds of marijuana and 2, 577 pounds of heroin. Just how much actually flows into the country is anyone's guess. Some Customs officials estimate that only 10 percent of the drugs coming into the country are ever seized. In Miami, the District Attorney won't even prosecute small fry. “It’s got to be over five kilos of cocaine, above a kilo of heroin and more than 5, 000 pounds of marijuana or it's not something that we’re going to stop the presses on,” says Tom Cash, a retired agent.

Given this deluge, one can only wonder if agents are ever confounded by some of the smuggling methods. “There are things we haven’t seen before,” says John McGhee, a Miami Customs special agent, “but nothing really surprises us.”

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