Stopping fentanyl at the border often means spotting packages concealed as cargo in vehicles at border crossings — but the government is struggling just to man the scanning machines.
Sen. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican, announced legislation Wednesday to deliver help in the form of a new job — image adjudicators — who would be assigned to review the scans and sort out potential drug cases for the Customs and Border Protection officers, who would conduct the inspections.
“Border law enforcement have asked for support to analyze cargo images in real-time, so they can focus on the person-to-person contact that enables them to catch criminals,” Mr. Lankford said. “Adding these positions makes sure cargo can be thoroughly inspected for illegal drugs, guns, and human smuggling at our border.”
Mr. Lankford is the ranking Republican on the border management subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
He said his bill is intended to be a nonpartisan way to support border authorities.
His office said Sen. Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat and chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, is supporting the legislation.
While the focus on the chaotic southern border during the Biden administration has centered primarily on human trafficking at border crossings, drugs also are being smuggled through the official crossings.
Seizures of most drugs are down — an indicator, according to border experts, that the overall flow of drugs is also down since agents catch only a fraction of what’s smuggled.
Fentanyl seizures, though, are up dramatically. CBP officers have already tallied 17,500 pounds of fentanyl seized at land crossings over the first eight months of fiscal 2023. That shatters 2022’s full-year record of 11,800 pounds.
The Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department said part of the explanation is a renewed focus on fentanyl under Operation Blue Lotus, which deployed more CBP officers to spot drugs, and Homeland Security Investigations agents to probe smuggling outfits.
Mr. Lankford, though, says the operation could have been more successful if there had been more personnel to look at cargo scans.
The image adjudicators would make an initial read of a scan and then recommend to CBP officers whether to allow the vehicle to enter the U.S. or to conduct a more thorough inspection.
Hiring new employees to review the scans could give the agency at least some coverage of more vehicles coming through the border crossings.
In his 2024 budget, President Biden proposed adding 150 more spaces to the ranks of CBP officers.
That does not include the image adjudicators Mr. Lankford is calling for.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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