Drug smuggling

Mexican drug cartels fueling meth comeback in US, with seizures at 'historically high levels'

Meth was once a drug mostly made in home labs in rural America.

But ask drug enforcement officers, and they'll tell you that Mexican cartels, have now cornered the market in meth production -- and the drug has quickly grown in popularity across the U.S.

In the past few years, drug agents say, Mexican drug cartels have ramped up production of a purer and cheaper form of meth. And it's now being smuggled into the U.S. through the border at record levels.

“Meth seizures have increased dramatically [by U.S. Customs and Border Protection] over the last four to five years,” said Pete Bidegain, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agent and special operations supervisor. “A lot of that is due to demand here in the U.S., and the Mexican cartels are now creating their own meth and then pushing it across the border through the channels that they use historically for cocaine and marijuana.”

Month after month, drug agents are intercepting large supplies of meth at the border. Scott Stewart, vice president of tactical analysis for Stratfor -- an American geopolitical intelligence platform and publisher -- said meth is coming into the U.S. at "historically high levels."