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It didn't surprise former U.S. Customs investigator Jamie Haase that a drug trafficker testified in federal court about cocaine sent from Mexico into the U.S. via FedEx.

Haase said the FedEx Express world hub in Memphis, which handles about 1.5 million packages on a typical night, just doesn't have enough people, drug dogs and detection gear to catch everything.

"The sheer volume of packages that goes through there makes it a win-win for drug traffickers," said Haase, who works in loss prevention in Greenville, S.C., and advocates for a group that favors liberalization of drug laws.

"Only a small percentage of cargo is getting flagged for inspection."

It's unclear how much narcotics traffic moves to and around the United States through air cargo carriers like FedEx and UPS, but it's presumed to be substantial.

"I think it's an unknown number, and I think it is huge. I don't think it's all international, either. It's domestic, too. From California, where (medical) marijuana is legal, they're shipping all over the country," he said.

In a U.S. District Court trial in Memphis this month, trafficker-turned-witness Orlando Pride, testifying against former associates, said they loaded 200 kilograms of cocaine in a coffin-sized box in Mexico and shipped it by FedEx across the border for distribution in Memphis and the South. Pride said there were 45 FedEx shipments valued at more than $4 million each.

Pride's testimony raised questions about what air cargo carriers are doing to stem the flow of illegal drugs and how much of the nation's illegal drug trade is moved by the same networks that support e-commerce and bring us iPods from China.

It was the latest drug investigation with a FedEx connection. In 2010, a Korean crime gang was accused of smuggling methamphetamines from Mexico to Korea by FedEx. In 2009, the son of actor Michael Douglas was charged with shipping meth by FedEx from California to New York.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's National Drug Threat Assessment for 2010 said drug traffickers' use of air cargo is declining in favor of land shipments across the Southwest border.

    Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association and cargo security expert, said people who facilitate imports and exports have been focused primarily on keeping explosives off planes, but he believes heightened security awareness helps curb drug flows too.

"The amount of drugs smuggled into the United States by couriers and in cargo aboard commercial aircraft is significantly less than the amount smuggled by other means," the report said.

Commercial air conveyances in 2009, the report said, accounted for 24 percent of heroin seizures, 15 percent of ecstasy, 6 percent of cocaine, and less than 1 percent each of methamphetamine and marijuana.

The next drug threat assessment report, issued last year, did not include details about air conveyances.

Nationally, Customs seized nearly 5 million pounds of narcotics in fiscal 2011 and 4.14 million the year before. Customs in fiscal 2010 processed nearly 334,000 flights with cargo and screened more than 57 million regular and express air waybill records.

An agency spokeswoman, citing the ongoing trial, declined to discuss drug enforcement efforts at the Memphis airport and FedEx hub.

Spokesmen at FedEx and rival UPS, citing the sensitive subject, declined to discuss cargo screening aimed at rooting out contraband.

Chris Stanley at FedEx and Norman Black at UPS said both companies require shippers to follow all applicable laws.

A Customs news release dated last July 15 provided a glimpse into the inner-workings of the FedEx hub in Indianapolis, the company's No. 2 hub in the U.S. It said Customs agents intercepted 99,253 illegal drug paraphernalia items there in the fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2010.

Haase said Customs officers and security personnel use sophisticated intelligence and technology tools to identify suspicious packages and set them aside for closer examination.

"The mass volume is too much to handle," he said. "They can put new procedures in place and catch what they can catch. It's going to be very minuscule, and it makes you wonder if it's going to be worth it."

Brandon Fried, executive director of the Airforwarders Association and cargo security expert, said people who facilitate imports and exports have been focused primarily on keeping explosives off planes, but he believes heightened security awareness helps curb drug flows too.

"The visibility is high on air cargo, a lot of procedures are in place, and walking off the street and giving a package to an air freight company is just not done any more," he said.

(Wayne Risher is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)