Border Patrol ramps up technology to nab smugglers

EL PASO, Texas ( Border Report ) – The federal government has deployed a new x-ray machine to catch drivers attempting to smuggle drugs and other illicit cargo in commercial trucks along the busy Interstate 35 corridor in South Texas.

The multi-energy portal (MEP) is up and running at the U.S. Border Patrol I-35 checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

The machine can scan 150 or more trailers passing through to the interior of the United States. That’s a lot more trucks than a handful of agents can physically inspect at any given time at the checkpoints without slowing down lawful commerce.

“CBP employs a multi-layered enforcement strategy to stop illegal activity, including narcotics smugglings at our border,” the agency said. “CBP continues to utilize all of its available resources, including non-intrusive technology, to stop these dangerous drugs from entering our communities.”

Border Patrol operates several highway checkpoints 20 to 40 miles north of the Mexican border as a secondary line of defense to detect contraband and unauthorized migrants who get through ports of entry or the border wall.

Border agents in the Laredo Sector in the past three fiscal years have seized 18.5 tons of marijuana, 1,135 pounds of meth, 393 pounds of cocaine and 14 pounds of heroin. Federal officials expect the x-ray machine to lead to further seizures.

The so-called non-intrusive or “touchless” technology generates images that CBP personnel can see on their computers as the trucks pass through the portal.

The agency says MEP technology does not harm people nor damages merchandise. It also takes the guesswork out of inspections, as traditional protocols consist of physically inspecting trucks that an agent at a primary inspection area deems suspicious. The portals scan every truck that goes through.

MEP technology has been operating at several ports of entry from Mexico. Last August, the federal government credited the portals for the seizure of 602 pounds of meth at the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, commercial port of entry.

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