Smuggling activity is reported to be down this summer on the US-Canada border, according to officials.

From the AP (via Boston Globe):

Summer is the busy time for both the Border Patrol and smugglers of both and contraband who choose to enter the U.S. illegally via Lake Champlain and the surrounding areas. But the Border Patrol says organized smuggling activity in the area is way down this summer.

Border Patrol officials credit the reduction in smuggling to benefits of the long-building emphasis on better security. Last year, as part of that effort, U.S. and Canadian officials broke up what they described as two major rings that smuggled illegal immigrants across the border, many through Alburgh.

“We have received more people, more equipment, more stuff to get things done,” said Mark Henry, a spokesman for the Border Patrol’s Swanton Sector, which runs from Ogdensburg, N.Y., 295 miles east to the New Hampshire-Maine line.

Organized smuggling is down, but violence is up.