SAN DIEGO, California — Seven minutes. That’s how quickly a smuggler operating a boat can get from Tijuana to the United States.
If people are the cargo, the trip is quick. For a boat, say, laden with 2,000 pounds of narcotics, maybe the journey takes 15 minutes. It is the mission of the Department of Homeland Security agency’s Air and Marine Operations to try to identify and grab them during what can be a frighteningly brief window before they make land.
The ocean presents a unique set of challenges for the DHS’ Customs and Border Protection, the 60,000-person agency tasked with guarding all sides of the American mainland, territories, and island states. That’s why it has the Air and Marine Operations.
CBP is comprised of the Office of Field Operations, whose officers determine whether someone can legally enter at ports of entrym, Border Patrol, whose agents man the land between official crossing points, and Air and Marine Operations. AMO is the smallest component with 1,800 air interdiction, aviation enforcement, and marine interdiction agents stationed at 14 branches and six air security operations centers.
AMO agents act as port officers, checking some boaters for documents, and they also work like Border Patrol, going after those who have evaded them. In fiscal 2018, Air and Marine Operations nationwide seized $34 million in currency, 760,000 pounds of illicit drugs, and nearly 48,000 people who attempted to illegally enter the country.
“It’s a massive open border when you look at the coast,” said Customs and Border Protection San Diego spokesman Ralph DeSio.
The San Diego Marine and Air Branch is the most southern Air and Marine Operations hub on the Pacific Coast and the first place international boaters are supposed to check in with when arriving. Because of its proximity to Mexico, this branch is well-staffed and very active, especially this time of year when warmer weather, smoother waters, and longer days have historically led to more drug seizures and human apprehensions.
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On a normal summer weekend, hundreds of boats will come and go in the San Diego Bay. Kris Goland, a marine supervisory agent based out of San Diego, said covert smugglers will often take an ordinary fishing or recreational boat to blend in with the other recreational boaters while moving illegal migrants or drugs into the U.S.
Roughly 35 agents work out of the San Diego Marine Unit, based at a Coast Guard hub downtown. This unit, one of four air and marine units within the branch, works heavily with Border Patrol, Office of Field Operations, Navy, Coast Guard, and state, local, and tribal law enforcement to watch for traffic coming up from south of the border.
“We can’t be here 24/7,” Goland said. “Nor can the Coast Guard be here 24/7. Literally no one can be here at this point 24/7. It’s such a vast ocean, so we work together.”
Air and Marine Operations and partner agencies use stationary cameras and sensors located at various points on the shore south of San Diego to pick out suspicious vessels and track them. Part of the challenge is that they do not know who is hiding contraband on board or who is planning to make a run past the bay. Once they ID a suspect craft, interdiction agents make pursuit and work with partners in the sky to go after the waterborne smugglers.
The unit of the San Diego branch has eight boats, including the newest Coastal Interceptor Vessel. These 41-foot-long boats were specially made by Safe Boat and have 1,400 horsepower. The new vessels also have screens that show the four-person crew exactly what their Air and Marine Operations partners in the air are seeing, which makes it easier to go after a target, because the air can share exact coordinates.
“If they [smugglers or bad actors] want to bypass San Diego altogether, they go pretty far off shore, and it’s like a needle in a haystack,” said Goland. “We really depend on our aircraft to identify these targets that are way offshore.”
Goland said agents know how to spot anomalies or “indicators” of suspicious vessels, including new, unused fishing line, poorly maintained vessels, or life jackets worn by everyone on board.
Air and Marine Operations agents use the authority under 19 U.S.C. 1581 to inspect documents for those seeking to enter the country.
“There is no physical border like, say, when someone comes across and presents their passport and says, ‘I’m crossing.’ That doesn’t exist in maritime. That’s some of what we do,” said Goland. “We as customs agents, officers need to validate you are who you say you are and the vessel is in fact what you’re presenting it is, and that’s how we can talk to any boat.”
If Air and Marine Operations does interdict a vessel attempting to smuggle people or contraband, everything or everyone is transported aboard government boats back to shore for Border Patrol processing.
The day and time of apprehensions and seizures fluctuate, but most incidents take place at night. And so that is often when AMO agents are on the prowl.
