Don’t write 'em; just read 'em. Sorry if this is a repeat of something discussed before, but evidently UP is being fined for bringing “pot” from Mexico to US. Anyone have anything from the internal side?
Did they discover it in reefers?
Boo Hisss
Mookie - any details available ? Where/ when did this happen ? Where did you read it, etc. ? Thanks.
- Paul North.
Local rag - $38 million in penalties UP wants set aside, related to 42 times the Feds found drugs stashed in railcars crossing the US/Mexico boarder since 2002.
Obviously this isn’t a surprise since drugs flow like water across many boarders, but wondered if anyone had any further details. (maybe nothing to detail. It happened; end of story?)
One important detail that I would like is whether or not UP knew about the drugs on their trains. Or, in other words, what exactly is their responsibility in the matter that deserves $38 million in penalties?
So maybe it isn’t “yard dwell” why freight cars move so slowly?
Jay - you and Zardoz keep my life “happy” w/o drugs! [:D]
The Justice Department is suing Union Pacific, seeking more than $37 million in penalties for allegedly allowing rail cars to be used to smuggle drugs across the border between the U.S. and Mexico.
The Justice Department claims that on 37 different occasions from November 2001 until October 2006, Customs and Border Protection officers found a total of more than two tons of marijuana on Union Pacific rail cars coming into the U.S. The government wants $33.6 million in penalties for those incidents.
Another lawsuit said 17 kilograms of cocaine were found behind a false wall on a rail car in 2003. That suit seeks $4.1 million.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/18/business/NA-US-Union-Pacific.php
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How absurd it is to sue the railroad! Like the railroad can control every nook and cranny of every railcar coming in from Mexico.
Anyway, they are making a big deal over the fact that in 5 years they found 2 tons. 2 tons! Is that the best they can claim?!? An average of about 2 pounds per day? I wonder how they missed the other bazillion pounds.
begin [soapbox]
Is it really in the nation’s best financial interest to have so many of our tax dollars wasted (pun slightly intended) eliminating this insignificant amount of a relatively (at least when compared with alcohol and tobacco) harmless herb? Just think of the potential tax revenue if pot were treated the same as the just-mentioned legal addictions?
Legalize pot, then tax the heck out of it. Similar to tobacco, it costs next to nothing to produce it: http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/tbs/aug06/tbs26001/tbs26001.pdf&nb
What does the Government expect the railroad to do, tear apart and x-ray every rail car that crosses the border? I thought the Customs and Border Patrol people were supposed to inspect the cars instead of passing the buck and blaming it on the railroad.
I hope they can weed out the problem.
zardoz -
Thanks for the details, the link, and the intelligent, well-thought out comments in your post above. But, you be careful now - or you’re going to put a lot of blow-hard politicians, columnists, “Letters-to-the-Editor” writers, and “talking heads” out of business ! [swg]
More seriously, this is a topic that I also struggle with to find a sensible solution, or at least a reasonable compromise of competing considerations - even though I too never have (and never will, I hope) use the stuff. What you say resonates with me from a couple aspects. The libertarian in me likes allowing people to use it; the conservative in me likes taxing the heck out of it as a non-esssential item to raise revenue. What you wrote certainly has more content that the usual rants I hear or read, and is better structured. But be careful, or somebody might nominate and elect you to some political office - and you know what happens then ! [:-^]
Thanks again.
- Paul North.
Old news. This thread came up several months ago. The issue was the US wanted UP car inspectors to inspect the cars in Mexico before they came into the US.
Was there talk of a fine on UP at that time?
[2c] Customs is complaining about 2 tons over 3 months in cars that can hold 100 tonnes?
rgds ign
Considering the many places such a stash could be hidden on a rail car, I’m thinking this is mission impossible.
What’s to stop the perps from somehow attaching or otherwise placing a package on the train just before the border, only to be removed shortly after it crosses?
We have any number of farms in this area. Rumor has it that pot is one of the larger cash crops in the area, and it’s not uncommon to see a flatbed trailer loaded with hay in those big bales rolling down the road. Who’s to say there’s not a bale of pot in that collection every now and then?
SJ, I hope I’m close enough to the inside to satisfy your curiosity (not that I have any direct experience with such things, in spite of the fact that there used to be a “patch” somewhere in the yard).
I’m assuming that this is a continuation of the same story that surfaced a couple of years ago–yes, UP was going to contest any resulting fines. I’ll have to side with the people that think this is totally ridiculous. Two reasons:
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UP apparently is expected to send its police force into Mexico to stop the trafficking. UP police have no jurisdiction in Mexico, and would therefore be no different from other folks that get in the way of the drug-lords–except that they’d be in totally worthless uniforms, which would be like wearing a big bull’s-eye.
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The Government is fining the UP for drugs that escaped detection by UP inspectors. However, UP inspectors are not allowed to board their own trains until Customs is done with them. So we are expected to do a better job than the people administering the fines, or pay for the government’s own shortcomings!
I’d welcome any corrections to the information I have here, or any factual information that makes this whole thing less preposterous. I didn’t go back and look up the details.
Thanx BC - what caught my eye on this article (other than it involved trains) was how the Justice Dept was going to prove that it was the UP’s fault.
If you drive into Mexico, stay in a motel and do some sightseeing and someone puts something illegal in a good hiding place on your car, unbeknownst to you, you drive back across the boarder and the find the illegal item. You are charged with the crime?
And did the Justice Dept take any kind of steps to work with UP to alleviate this problem, before assessing the “fine”?
The return trains carry Potash!
Carl, you’re slipping; Zardoz and DennisHeld got ahead of you. Oh, well, even the best have an off day. When I was in graduate school, another student was great at playing on words, but he was stumped when I told him a certain chimney needed art lessons because it had trouble drawing.
Johnny