CBP to Implement More Nonintrusive Scanning Units at Southwest Ports of Entry
CBP will be deploying new nonintrusive inspection technologies at ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, agency officials said recently during an event in El Paso, Texas, highlighting the agency’s efforts to beef up cargo and passenger security in West Texas and New Mexico.
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“The deployment of these new scanning systems is vital to maximize our interdiction efforts to stop the spread of fentanyl or other hard narcotics,” said Hector Mancha, CPB director of field operations, who oversees inspections occurring at ports of entry in New Mexico and West Texas.
Approximately $160 million granted under the Securing America’s Ports Act will fund 39 scanning units in the passenger vehicle, commercial truck and railroad environments. The units will help CBP deploy its Apollo X operation aimed at countering fentanyl production and distribution and disrupting fentanyl’s supply chain along the border region stretching from El Paso to San Diego.
Other measures to beef up efforts to counter the illicit drug trade along this stretch of the U.S. Southwest include canine narcotic detection and vehicle compartment training for law enforcement partners, according to Mancha.
While CBP officials praised federal support to modernize port of entry facilities in El Paso and other places, they called for further funding so that the ports can access and utilize advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to better fight the drug trade.
These technologies would enable CBP to quickly adjudicate images and provide information to front-line officers, as well as share information with state, local and federal partners, according to Troy Miller, CBP’s senior official performing the duties of the commissioner. “We have a whole host of needs. We've been very explicit in those needs, and we will continue to advocate for the men and women of CBP, because they deserve our support from headquarters,” Miller said at the El Paso event.