An expansion is eyed for the checkpoint in the state of Sonora

A truckload of zucchinis or tomatoes traveling from Sinaloa or Sonora, Mexico, to the plates of North Americans, also feeds the economy of Nogales and Rio Rico. Each winter and spring, four billion pounds of vegetables are packaged here for supermarkets across the United States.

Drugs, weapons

To the Mexican army, each load represents a myriad of hiding places for drugs or weapons. As each truck winds its way north on Highway 15, it must pass through three military checkpoints before it arrives at the Mariposa Port of Entry at Nogales, said Martha Rascon, chair of the international committee of the Greater Nogales Santa Cruz County Port Authority.

"Soldiers do the work manually," Rascon said. The biggest slowdown is at Benjamin Hill, north of Hermosillo, where trucks and cars may be diverted to the shoulder of Highway 15.

"The [produce] industry and the governments of Sonora and Sinaloa have expressed the need of urgent modernization of these checkpoints," Rascon said.

"We were accustomed to a 2 to 4-hour wait, but now it's up to 13 hours," said Luis Ramirez, an adviser to the port authority.

This turns a 12-hour trip into 24 to 36 hours, Ramirez said. Because of the wide variety of vegetables and their requirements, some trucks are refrigerated and others are not.

"Every additional hour it [fresh produce] sits in a truck shortens the shelf life," he said.

Some 1,200 to 1,300 trucks a day come through the Mariposa Port of Entry, Ramirez said. "These trucks don't shut off when they're in line," but burn diesel fuel at $2 to 3 a gallon and pollute the environment.

"We're all interested in homeland security and stopping drug traffic," Ramirez said.

"But the amount of time it takes to do those inspections is excessive."

Relief may be on the way: The State of Sonora has secured approximately $10 million in funding, in partnership with the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas and Mexican federal agencies, for a project to modernize the Benjamin Hill checkpoint, Ramirez said.

Gov. Eduardo Bours of Sonora is scheduled to announce today that bidding is open for design and construction of the new high-tech inspection station, according to a report from Notimex. The winning company will be revealed Jan. 17 and the work should be completed in about 240 days.