Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

U.S. Customs corruption is chronic, audit says

SENTRI faces "insider threat," needs more lie detector tests of border agents.

Cooked up in 1995 as a way of easing border travel from Mexico to the United States for those who qualify for pre-approval, the so-called Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection Program, SENTRI for short, has been credited with helping to cut travel time for program participants at the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry.

As a February 18 audit by the inspector general of U.S. Homeland Security describes the program, "Participants voluntarily provide personally identifiable information to [Customs and Border Protection], undergo background checks, and use dedicated lanes that allow CBP to maintain border integrity, security, and law enforcement responsibilities."

'However, some program members have abused their privileges and transported illicit goods across the border. Smugglers and drug traffickers have also targeted program participants as conduits for illegal cross-border activities. In addition, some CBP officers serving at ports of entry potentially pose an insider threat."

In their heavily redacted report, the auditors cite multiple security breaches involving United States customs officials gone bad.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"In January 2013 a CBP officer was convicted of allowing a wanted fugitive to enter the United States from Mexico without inspection. While on duty, the CBP officer entered false information about the fugitive’s vehicle into a government data system, which allowed ingress through [SENTRI]."

While noting "significant improvements" in vehicle and pedestrian screening and internal security since its first review in 2004, the inspector general's report says many gaps remain. Agents interviewed by the auditors praised high-tech devices such as radio-frequency identification gadgets used to read SENTRI cards work 90 percent of the time. Then the report goes on to say, "However, CBP officers said the license plate readers..." The rest of the paragraph is redacted.

Customs administrators have cut down on the chances of insider crime by "prohibiting officers from processing family members and close acquaintances," as well as "conducting covert testing and performing pre­ employment polygraph screening," according to the audit.

"However, additional improvements can be made," including, "random polygraph screening for current employees and [expanded] covert testing."

In addition, customs officers should get late word of their inspection lane assignments so that they aren't tempted to schedule illegal entries with co-conspirators.

"For example, in March 2013 a CBP officer was convicted on bribery and smuggling charges for receiving bribes to admit more than 100 undocumented aliens through a [Port of Entry] by providing his on-duty lane assignment information to drivers.

"Ensuring that officers do not have access to personal cellular phones or electronic devices, while on-duty, is an important integrity measure implemented by CBP. In addition, providing limited advance notice of lane assignments is prudent to mitigate opportunities for officers to communicate their assignments."

In their response, administrators said they had made that change.

The report goes on to recommend that customs agents not be assigned to duty in their home territories.

An "officer’s hometown was considered to be within a [redacted] mile radius of an assigned duty location.

"When CBP assigns an officer or agent to his or her hometown, it increases the likelihood of having a connection with family or friends in the area, and may risk and officer or agent placing that connection above the CBP mission when the two intersect.

"The issue becomes compounded when family or friends have a criminal history, as [Internal Affairs] research determined that some officers and agents did have criminal associates."

Some of the recommended changes are not likely to go down well with the labor union representing the customs agents, the report notes.

“Officials from [Internal Affairs] and [Office of Field Operations] want recurrent polygraph screening for CBP officers. Several CBP officials indicate it may be necessary for a legislative change and extensive negotiations with the CBP’s union to allow CBP to require random polygraph screening.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema

Cooked up in 1995 as a way of easing border travel from Mexico to the United States for those who qualify for pre-approval, the so-called Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection Program, SENTRI for short, has been credited with helping to cut travel time for program participants at the Otay Mesa and San Ysidro ports of entry.

As a February 18 audit by the inspector general of U.S. Homeland Security describes the program, "Participants voluntarily provide personally identifiable information to [Customs and Border Protection], undergo background checks, and use dedicated lanes that allow CBP to maintain border integrity, security, and law enforcement responsibilities."

'However, some program members have abused their privileges and transported illicit goods across the border. Smugglers and drug traffickers have also targeted program participants as conduits for illegal cross-border activities. In addition, some CBP officers serving at ports of entry potentially pose an insider threat."

In their heavily redacted report, the auditors cite multiple security breaches involving United States customs officials gone bad.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"In January 2013 a CBP officer was convicted of allowing a wanted fugitive to enter the United States from Mexico without inspection. While on duty, the CBP officer entered false information about the fugitive’s vehicle into a government data system, which allowed ingress through [SENTRI]."

While noting "significant improvements" in vehicle and pedestrian screening and internal security since its first review in 2004, the inspector general's report says many gaps remain. Agents interviewed by the auditors praised high-tech devices such as radio-frequency identification gadgets used to read SENTRI cards work 90 percent of the time. Then the report goes on to say, "However, CBP officers said the license plate readers..." The rest of the paragraph is redacted.

Customs administrators have cut down on the chances of insider crime by "prohibiting officers from processing family members and close acquaintances," as well as "conducting covert testing and performing pre­ employment polygraph screening," according to the audit.

"However, additional improvements can be made," including, "random polygraph screening for current employees and [expanded] covert testing."

In addition, customs officers should get late word of their inspection lane assignments so that they aren't tempted to schedule illegal entries with co-conspirators.

"For example, in March 2013 a CBP officer was convicted on bribery and smuggling charges for receiving bribes to admit more than 100 undocumented aliens through a [Port of Entry] by providing his on-duty lane assignment information to drivers.

"Ensuring that officers do not have access to personal cellular phones or electronic devices, while on-duty, is an important integrity measure implemented by CBP. In addition, providing limited advance notice of lane assignments is prudent to mitigate opportunities for officers to communicate their assignments."

In their response, administrators said they had made that change.

The report goes on to recommend that customs agents not be assigned to duty in their home territories.

An "officer’s hometown was considered to be within a [redacted] mile radius of an assigned duty location.

"When CBP assigns an officer or agent to his or her hometown, it increases the likelihood of having a connection with family or friends in the area, and may risk and officer or agent placing that connection above the CBP mission when the two intersect.

"The issue becomes compounded when family or friends have a criminal history, as [Internal Affairs] research determined that some officers and agents did have criminal associates."

Some of the recommended changes are not likely to go down well with the labor union representing the customs agents, the report notes.

“Officials from [Internal Affairs] and [Office of Field Operations] want recurrent polygraph screening for CBP officers. Several CBP officials indicate it may be necessary for a legislative change and extensive negotiations with the CBP’s union to allow CBP to require random polygraph screening.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Centennial Salute to San Diego’s Military, East Village Block Party, Birding Basics Class

Events March 29-March 30, 2024
Next Article

Making Love to Goats, Rachmaninoff, and Elgar

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.