TECHNOLOGY AIDS BORDER CRIME WATCH

SAN YSIDRO, Calif. - A beat-up Honda Accord lurches in stop-and-go
traffic at one of the largest border crossings from Mexico. Still
yards from the inspection booths - but technically inside the United
States - an inspector with a large black labrador walks toward the
car. The dog suddenly stops sniffing, and sits.

Careful not to agitate the driver, the inspector calmly points the car
toward a covered parking lot, where a huge recreational vehicle with a
metal arch idles. Without even peeking through the window, inspectors
soon will know there are several bags of drugs hidden in the car.

New gadgets, like the X-ray system enclosed in that metal arch, are
becoming essential tools for agents who patrol the nation's borders in
the face of ever-growing traffic fueled by trade agreements such as
NAFTA.

"Technology has been a driver for us for the last 25 years," said
Edward Logan, U.S. Customs Service special agent in charge for
Southern California. "We've been on the pointy end of the sword
dealing with this explosion in trade."

On the average, almost two cars cross into San Ysidro from Tijuana,
Mexico, every second of every day. They can spend up to 90 minutes
sitting in traffic lanes as agents search for contraband.

As the cars wait, agents walk through the lanes carrying black devices
the size of bricks. Called "busters," they are dragged along a car to
measure the density of the metal, revealing hidden spaces where
smugglers can stash drugs or even people.

In hard-to-reach places such as a gasoline tank, an inspector uses a
long fiber-optic camera, similar to those used in exploratory surgery,
to check for drugs.

The mobile truck X-ray facing the Honda Accord moves slowly down the
length of the vehicle, barraging it with X-ray transmissions. On a
black and white screen, three dark blocks glow against the gray metal
of the Accord's chassis, suggesting a drug stash. Another three blocks
appear in a check of the other side.

When it comes to retrieving the evidence, no high-tech gizmo works
better than a sharp metal pole. Stabbing it into the car's
quarterpanels, fenders, upholstery and dashboard, agents stack up more
than 80 pounds of marijuana.

The X-ray truck is new this year at the San Ysidro border station. At
nearby Otey Mesa, Calif., where tractor-trailers pass into the
country, a 90-foot gamma ray scanner is used on many of the more than
3,000 trucks that travel through each day.

Technology has brought some success. Last year, the five California
border stations found 207 tons of illegal drugs with a street price of
$372 million.

"We've had 14-year-old kids to 78-year-old grandmothers and everything
in between" try to smuggle drugs through, said Customs spokesman
Vincent Bond.

But all the technology isn't used just to stop the bad guys. The
Immigration and Naturalization Service has a new system, dubbed
SENTRI, that helps pedestrians and commuters pass more smoothly
between countries.

In SENTRI, cross-border commuters fill out forms and get background
checks. Once approved, their cars are fitted with a transponder
similar to those used to automatically deduct tolls on roads and bridges.

When a SENTRI-equipped car approaches the express lanes, an agent
instantly sees pictures of the passengers, along with their name,
nationality and other information. The driver then swipes a card with
a magnetic strip to verify his or her identity, and after an instant
police database check, is waved through.

An American businessman returning from Mexico said the SENTRI program
saves time.

"It's been one of the most unbelievably good things that has happened
to this port," said Enrique Fernandez of Coronado, Calif.

"The officer here already knows (the driver) has been checked out,"
INS supervisory inspector William Snyder said. "In the other lanes,
you have no idea who these people are."

Other gadgets may soon join the contraband hunt.

Rudy Camacho, director of Customs field operations in the region, said
the service is considering new technologies that take air samples to
analyze for suspicious residues. With an eye on terrorism, they also
are considering sensors to help detect small nuclear devices.

"We're trying to do everything we can with the forces we have,"
Camacho said.

Publicity helps as well. Camacho, Bond, Logan and other Customs
officials appeared in the recent Oscar-winning movie "Traffic" about
drug cartels, which was filmed in part at San Ysidro.

But technology and publicity can't stop the flow of drugs completely,
Logan said, because as long as there's demand, the drug smugglers will
find a way to continue.

"We hate this whole thing being characterized as a 'war on drugs,' "
Logan said. "It's management of a criminal activity like any city has.
You never win it. We'll never be able to turn out the light."