BORDER AGENTS GO HIGH-TECH

Drugs: Gamma Ray Scanners, Sophisticated X-Rays Are Among The Arsenal
Used To Screen Cars Entering From Mexico.

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 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, such as 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 like NAFTA. "Technology has been a driver for us for the
last 25 years," said Edward W. 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 average, almost two cars cross into San Ysidro from Tijuana every
second of every day. They can spend up to 90 minutes sitting in
traffic 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 quarter
panels, 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 Otay Mesa, Calif., where tractor-trailers pass into the
country, a 90-foot-long gamma ray scanner is used on many of the more
than 3,000 semis that travel through each day. The scanner's two
large vertical bars move along the length of each trailer, firing
gamma rays to provide inspectors with a silhouette of what's inside.

Technology has brought some success. Last year the five California
border stations found 207 tons of illegal drugs with an approximate
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 identity, and after an instant police
database check, he 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.

INS agents like it too.

"The officer here already knows [the driver] has been checked out,"
INS supervisory inspector William P. 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."