Reagan’s Claim of Tenfold Rise in Drug Seizures Disputed

WASHINGTON —  A union official representing federal customs agents says President Reagan’s claim that his Administration has increased the seizure of narcotics tenfold is an “obvious fabrication.”

In his Tuesday evening news conference in Chicago, Reagan said, “You might be interested to know that, since we’ve been here, we have increased by 10 times . . . the seizure of narcotics with our drug enforcement.”

But Robert Tobias, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said Wednesday that the number of federal seizures has fallen from 21,598 in 1980, the last year of former President Jimmy Carter’s Administration, to 15,280 in 1985. He cited figures from the Customs Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and House and Senate select committees on narcotics.