Today it was announced by the U.S. Government that it is embarking upon a revamped plan to "harden" the U.S/Canadian Border against an onslaught of drug trafficking. It will be called the "National Northern Border Counternarcotics Strategy," and will pinpoint several Native American Tribal Areas from Maine to Washington State.
Interestingly, one of the primary conduits of illicit drug smuggling in the entire country is right here in my own back yard. The new strategy will focus in our region upon the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, where both drugs and aliens are moved across the St. Lawrence River on a regular basis. Part of the initiative will be to provide Tribal Police with additional resources, including better inter-governmental cooperation, financial assistance, improved monitoring systems and air/marine operations, especially during the winter months.
These days, it is impossible not to feel the increased presence of the U.S. Border Patrol. For instance, a week ago on our way to Lake Placid we were confronted with a road block on an Adirondack highway between Potsdam/Malone and Saranac Lake. Route 30 drops directly south from Malone, passing through considerable private timber tracts. It is a lonely stretch where mountain lions have been spotted in recent years. Then, on our way home from Burlington, VT this past Tuesday, and because of the inclement weather, we traveled north to Rouses Point (less than 40 miles from Montreal) and hence along the Canadian Border on U.S. Route 11 to Malone, etc. We saw several more Border Patrol vehicles but were not stopped.
Between Rouses Point and Malone, probably a stretch of 40 miles, there is nothing but woods and fields and a few secondary highways that simply shoot straight north across the border, a mere couple of miles away. One would think that monitoring here would be somewhat straight-forward, especially with the use of drones and small planes. However, the use of atv's and snowmobiles do complicate surveillance.
But beyond Malone and west along Route 37 to Massena and the International Border Crossing at Cornwall Island on the St. Lawrence River, one travels directly through the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation. And this reservation functions as a single autonomous territory in both Canada and the United States on either side of the St. Lawrence River. It is dotted with islands, large and small, and presents a very challenging landscape. Simply put the reservation is a porous sieve.
So one might think that with improved governmental assistance the Akwesasne Mohawks would be happy. So far, their silence is deafening. This is the same reservation where former Governor Mario Cuomo needed to place the New York State Police on 24/7 patrol for more than a year. That after he tried to collect cigarette taxes. Now his son Andrew is attempting a new and similar thrust to diminish the state's debts. But now the ante is up -- the Akwesasne Mohawks have a thriving tobacco industry of their own right on the reservation.
But that was then and now is now. The Mohawks currently have a thriving casino and bingo palace on the reservation, and seem to be a bit caught in the middle between a presumed geographical nexus for transporting illicit products -- high potency marijuana, ecstasy, tobacco and aliens -- and attracting visitors to come and gamble.
There was a time not very long ago when tensions between the Mohawks and Canadian Border officials produced drive-by shootings over Canada's decision to arm their border agents at Customs and Immigration. The Mohawks claimed sovereignty and imminent danger to their own citizens. They stopped traffic on the international bridge. Yet it doesn't take a genius to question the motivation of suddenly being so against guns when they themselves tote guns on a regular basis.
Our local Congressman, Bill Owens, and our U.S. Senator, Chuck Schumer, have worked hard to keep legal traffic and post-9/11tourism alive between our two countries. Now they have succeeded in obtaining more funding to help stem dangerous drug trafficking. Yet new passport regulations, and the blockage of the Canadian pipeline out west will undoubtedly create even more diplomatic problems. And locally, we have the ever-temperamental, contentious Mohawks right in the middle of the action. It's going to be an interesting spring in the North Country.
If you would like a bit more dramatic presentation of these complex problems, I would highly recommend that you Netflix a movie from a couple of years ago called Frozen River. Melissa Leo was nominated for an Oscar for her performance as a down and out salesclerk from Malone, living in a trailer with her two kids and working at the local Dollar Store. In an effort to improve the quality of their lives, she begins trafficking in aliens via the Montreal -- St. Regis Mohawk Reservation route across the river. I found it very authentic and riveting. Regardless of its toughness, it's a heart-warmer, and even comedic, if one can move beyond the bleakness of her poverty. Highly recommended.
There is one exchange in that film between mother and young son that goes something like this...
Son: "Mom, what will happen to our trailer when we move out and into our new double-wide?"
Mom: "Well, what they'll do is grind it up into little tiny pieces, put them on a boat in the St. Lawrence and send them all the way to China. And once there, the Chinese will stamp out new pieces of crap, send them back to the United States, and I'll sell them at the Dollar Store."
Son: "Really?"
Mom: "Yep."
Carry on,
Paul in Potsdam
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