Tighter US border fuels rise in cocaine trafficking, officials warn
Crime
Politics
May 31, 2026
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Across the deserts, canyons and mountains dividing the United States and Mexico, migrants continue to risk their lives for the chance of a better future in North America.
Some spend months working in Trinidad and Tobago before paying Mexican cartels between US$4,000 and US$12,000 to smuggle them across the border.
But after the Joe Biden administration tightened regional migration policies in 2024—and US President Donald Trump later declared a national emergency at the border, boosting enforcement and restricting asylum access—illegal crossings dropped sharply as much as 99 per cent.
Crime
Politics
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