SAN DIEGO -- Security crackdowns at the U.S.-Mexico border in the wake of the terrorist attacks have had a side benefit -- a significant decline in narcotics smuggling.

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"After September 11th, we noticed a sharp dropoff in drug-seizure activity because of the much-intensified security we are giving cars and trucks (entering the United States)," USCS Public Affairs Officer Vince Bond said.

Immediately following the airborne attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash of a jetliner in Somerset County, Pa., California's border inspectors began "looking everywhere" that travelers could hide contraband, Bond said.

"With that level of (scrutiny), it would be common sense that a smuggling organization would not risk exposure and would back off from smuggling," he said.

From Sept. 11-25, the federal agency logged a considerable decrease in narcotics enforcement at the state's five international ports at the Mexican border, as compared to the same period last year.

Despite the stricter inspections, overall drug seizures plummeted 59 percent, and 52 percent fewer people wound up in custody on trafficking charges, Bond said.

Customs agents confiscated 72 percent less marijuana over the two-week span this year and 65 percent less cocaine.

In recent days, however, those "numbers are starting to go back up," the USCS official said.

"I would not say narcotics smuggling has taken a holiday," he added. "It hasn't. ... I think we'll see -- as the smugglers get desperate -- more attempts to risk getting the drugs across."