It’s not clear if more drugs are crossing the border, or if more help with inspections at the border is increasing the number of drugs busts at the border.
Since the federal government launched Operation Guardian Support and sent National Guard members to Nogales earlier this year, Customs and Border Protection has discovered more drugs at its entry.
In Nogales, Arizona, for instance, more than 40 Guard members were sent in mid-April to assist with tracking illegal migration.
Guard members are increasingly helping with processing and inspecting passenger vehicles at the Nogales entry where Customs officials report seizing more than 5,000 pounds of methamphetamine this fiscal year.
"The opioids, the heroin, the fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, all those are up.” said Michael Humphries, port director for the three border crossings in the Nogales area.
“Marijuana is down," he said. "But the hard, dangerous narcotics, we're seeing more and more significantly over last year."
Before the guard’s arrival, U.S. Customs was short more than 200 officers at six Arizona border crossings.