[stanman]

UP wasn't able to make their logo licensing effort stick, so it looks like they've got other ideas. Headline in today's Wall Street Journal: "US Says Union Pacific Trains Move Drugs Across Border".

The first paragraph continues, "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..."

 

[Torby]

Somebody's head's going to roll over that one.

 

[Ray Dunakin]

Seems pretty idiotic... how's UP supposed know what goes on in Mexico?

If I was running UP, I'd just refuse to take anything more across the border until someone in authority could make sure it was free of contraband.

 

[bull]

That's Border Patrol's job but they can't even keep out the illegal Mexicans. If they can miss people that are for the most part in plain sight how are they supposed to see a smaller package of drugs that are hidden?

 

[Spule 4]

58 times, what I would want to know is compared to the total cross border traffic volume, is this an infrequent situation, or can we assume the problem is a bit more "chronic"?

 

[aceinspp]

Sounds like a failure to inspect the trains more frequent at the inter change. To relaxed on inspections. Not Up fault. Later RJD

 

[Fred]

Just think that if that much drug traffic was dedected, how much slipped by. Seems like it would be easy enough for a someone to place explosives on/in a car to blow up at a designed time or location as well.

 

[bull]

I had read somewere that for every pound of narcotics they seize about 50-60 pounds make it through undetected I think.

 

[JEFF RUNGE]

They need to seize the train, the whole thing, just like they do cars. They only need to do it ONE time.....

 

[Semper Vaporo]

Posted By JEFF RUNGE on 03/20/2009 5:56 PM
They need to seize the train, the whole thing, just like they do cars. They only need to do it ONE time.....


If someone were to put drugs in your car and it was found, as long as it was obvious that the drugs were not put there by YOU, your car would not be seized (you might have some difficulty proving it, though). Union Pacific is not in the business of "running drugs", so the train would not be "seized". They might get fined for lax security measures or even barred from international transportation for allowing it to happen. But SOMEONE ELSE is putting the drugs on the trains in some manner... either secreting them into other objects being transported, packaged into containers that are just shipped via rail or sticking them in packages in, under, or around the train cars. They are the guilty ones, not Union Pacific.

 

[GG]

Keep it simple.

Seize the train proper and any track that the train currently rests on. Scope of track confiscation based on an electrical continuity test.

Based on this all illicit drug activity including any other commercial goods transport will be effectively eliminated in North America.

gg

 

[trainman707]

Posted By aceinspp on 03/20/2009 1:45 PM
Sounds like a failure to inspect the trains more frequent at the inter change. To relaxed on inspections. Not Up fault. Later RJD


Hum,....wonder how much is coming across on KCS equipment?! I'm sure it happens on all railroads, truck lines, and we already know cars and humans...perhaps
even dogs and cats!