So that tells me somebody has messed with it. In the past four years, combined seizures have surpassed $7 million. On one 15-mile section that runs through Texas' Kleberg County, the southbound lanes have become a "piggy bank," according to the local sheriff. For the impoverished cities and counties situated along 77, it is like a river of gold. Think of it as a great two-way river - drugs flow north, drug money flows south. Highway 77 follows the coastal bend of South Texas past mesquite thickets, grapefruit stands and vast historic ranches on its way to the Mexican border.ĭrug agents say Highway 77 is one of the busiest smuggling corridors in the world. "If they catch 'em going south with a suitcase full of cash, the police department just paid for its budget for the year." Then they destroy the cocaine," says Jack Fishman, an IRS special agent for 25 years who is now a criminal defense attorney in Atlanta. "If a cop stops a car going north with a trunk full of cocaine, that makes great press coverage, makes a great photo. While drug-related asset forfeitures have expanded police budgets, critics say the flow of money distorts law enforcement - that some cops have become more interested in seizing money than drugs, more interested in working southbound than northbound lanes. In Texas, with its smuggling corridors to Mexico, public safety agencies seized more than $125 million last year. And that doesn't include tens of millions more the agencies got from state asset forfeiture programs. Justice Department figures show that in the past four years alone, the amount of assets seized by local law enforcement agencies across the nation enrolled in the federal program-the vast majority of it cash-has tripled, from $567 million to $1.6 billion. As a tactic in the war on drugs, law enforcement pursues that drug money and is then allowed to keep a portion as an incentive to fight crime.Īs a result, the amount of drug dollars flowing into local police budgets is staggering. His latest work is entitled TRANSFORMATION: Water as Art.John Burnett/NPR / Tamez searches an engine compartment for hidden drug money.Įvery year, about $12 billion in drug profits returns to Mexico from the world's largest narcotics market - the United States. Roger now likes to hang out of a helicopter to do aerial photography in Greenland and Iceland. He has also walked up a river chest-deep in water, to be just feet away from hungry grizzly bears. It also involved crawling on his hands and knees towards cheetahs in Africa, so he could get an eye to eye connection to their spirit. His original creative focus was on wildlife, and had him doing things such as camping in the blizzards of Antarctica, in order to photograph and film emperor penguins in their natural habitat. Roger now creates his own art projects with which he seeks to engage, challenge, and inspire others to live their lives in a more full, present, and purposeful way. To live his own childhood dreams of art and adventure…Īnd to make a difference in the lives of others, and in our planet. To spend quality and quantity time with his wife and son… However, when his son was born, his life was changed…and he changed his life… He had a successful career in corporate America, and eventually created his own successful business. So, he worked seven days a week and 80-100 hour work weeks. He was driven to be financially successful in life, and to never be poor again. While his family did not have the resources to travel, Roger dreamt of exploring the world by reading National Geographic, watching Jacques Cousteau, and studying wildlife and different cultures from around the world. Although his family was financially poor, Roger was well-loved. Roger grew up in Orange, Connecticut, a small town of 16,000.
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