By Ignacio Ibarra
The Arizona Daily Star

DOUGLAS - They may look similar, but drug trafficking and people smuggling rarely mix in this area, Border Patrol officials say.

``Yes, it happens, but the stakes are higher for narcotics smugglers,'' said George Lopez, an assistant chief with the Tucson sector who began his career with the Border Patrol in Douglas 19 years ago.

He said drug smugglers remain more prone to violence and more protective of their smuggling routes and operations than their alien-smuggling counterparts.

``They're greedier, and they want more accountability for their loads,'' Lopez said. ``I don't think they're willing to take the risk of involving an innocent person whose only intent in coming here is to better his life. . . . I don't think they mix very well.''

Douglas Border Patrol Supervisor Victor Colon said the distinction between the two criminal enterprises is evident even in the way they move their cargoes into the United States.

``Sometimes drug smugglers will try to mix in with alien traffic to throw us off, but they don't like to stay on established alien trails because they know we're working them and don't want to increase their risk of being caught,'' Colon said.

Getting caught is less of a problem for people smugglers than it is for drug smugglers, who face longer sentences and who aren't able to blend in with their cargo.

In Bisbee, where police officers have stopped and detained hundreds of vehicles transporting illegal entrants this year, department officials say cases in which drugs and illegal entrants are being shipped together are more the exception than the rule.