Some time back (2009). I saw this story in an on-line edition of the Wall Street Journal referencing the start of this dispute between the Customs and Border Protection Agency and the UP RR. At the time it seemed to be a case of the government fining a homeowner for damages when an arsonist burned down the house of the homeowner(?)
FTA;"….MEXICO CITY – U.S. rail giant Union Pacific has been accused of transporting illegal drugs, virtually all marijuana, aboard trains it leased coming in from Mexico on 58 occasions since late 2001, according to court papers and evidence filed in a dispute between the company and U.S. Customs and Border Protection…"
FTA:'…Since 2001 Union Pacific has been slapped by the U.S. government with fines totaling just under $38 million overall, court filings indicate.."
**FTA:'…**Union Pacific responded in a statement saying: "As Union Pacific explained in its Nebraska lawsuit, it is the government, not Union Pacific that takes initial control over rail cars entering the U.S. fro
Giving UP the benefit of the doubt here, this would appear to be little different than somebody sticking a bag of {name your illegal substance} under your fender while you’re parked at the duty free store, with the intention of retrieving it later, all unbeknownst to you.
You get caught, you get in trouble and they’re off scot-free.
If the cars are customs bonded at the point of loading, then somebody other than UP is involved. Otherwise, who knows who could be involved.
There have been cases of folks stopping stack trains in the middle of nowhere and looting a specific container before the conductor can get back to find out what the problem is.
I absolutely, agree with what Larry (tree68) and Zardoz have intimated with their posts.
Further, it would seem from the information contained on the following linked article from Securityinfowatch.com seems to confirm that very premise.
“Union Pacific to spend $50M on Mexico border security”
**FTA:'**Funds to be allocated towards technology, infrastructure and personnel enhancements…"
RTT News (United States)
Updated: 08-22-2011 2:43 pm
Further/FTA:"…__Union Pacific said that it will invest $50 million to enhance efforts to help secure the U.S. - Mexico border and improve supply chain security. The funds will be allocated towards technology, infrastructure, and personnel enhancements that CBP and Union Pacific will define in coming months…"
This portion of the article seems to smack of a little ‘lawyeristic’ coercion(?)
FTA_:'…A working team will form a “Fusion Center” where CBP, Union Pacific, and other stakeholders will interact for communication, sharing of intelligence, analysis, and coordination, the company said…"_
Seems like this kind of facility would be a function of the C&BP agency budget_,_ rather than a ‘deal’ made to set aside some questionably sourced fines(?)
It would seem like the following paragraph from the article would tend to bear that out(?).
FTA:"…As Union Pacific makes the agreed investments, over $500 million in civil penalties that CBP has asserted or might assert against Union Pacific for previous drug discoveries will be mitigated, and Union Pacific will not pay fines or penalties for those drug