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- August 1990
-
-
- POLICE PRACTICES:
- CUSTOM'S BET PROGRAM
-
- An effective interdiction effort requires the cooperation
- of all law enforcement agencies. To work toward this goal, the
- U.S. Customs Service in New York developed a specific program--
- the Border Envelope Team (BET)--to underscore a unified regional
- approach to interdiction. Customs personnel from both the
- Office of Enforcement and the Office of Operations produce
- multiple sources of intelligence to provide the most complete
- information on border activity.
-
- The theory behind BET is that successful interdiction
- requires law enforcement to understand fully all entities working
- within the border environment. Monitoring the actions of
- importers, brokers, airline personnel and others who transact
- business on the border is critical. Once gathered, the
- information is made available to other law enforcement agencies
- on a routine basis.
-
- Through research, observation and analysis, BET gathers
- extensive data on the various entities operating on the border
- and identifies those areas (cargo, passenger, and conveyance)
- that pose the greatest threat. The goal of BET is ultimately to
- produce profiles and patterns of operation that can determine
- potential areas of vulnerability.
-
- Computer Systems
-
- The profiles and patterns developed are entered into two
- major computer systems. The Treasury Enforcement Communication
- System (TECSII) is an automated enforcement and inspection
- support system that can create, maintain and retrieve
- information. TECSII maintains information on wide-ranging
- subjects of interest to law enforcement, including the names of
- importers, brokers, aircraft, passenger and merchant vessels.
- The Automated Commercial System (ACS) is a comprehensive
- tracking, controlling and processing system of commercial cargo.
- It gives inspectors and agents the ability of on-line query of
- virtually the entire database.
-
- Customs also maintains other, more specific, database
- systems. The Private Aircraft Enforcement Tracking System, used
- primarily at airports, screens pilots, crew members and
- passengers on privately owned aircraft entering the United
- States. The Exodus Seizure Database contains information
- extracted from high technology seizure reports in the New York
- region. Other similar systems assist agencies in identifying
- individuals associated with terrorist organizations and also
- track child pornography seizures.
-
- Response Team
-
- The Border Envelope Response Team (BERT), an extension of
- the BET concept, responds to all non-Customs seizures and
- arrests. Nine agents and five analysts gather information that
- will assist Customs in its interdiction mission. This team
- collects and reviews documents and records seized by other
- agencies to determine if there are potential international
- implications surrounding a case. Data entered into the database
- systems can be used to identify criminal activity that crosses
- the border.
-
- The BERT Program has helped solve cases where cross-border
- transactions afforded the strongest evidence in proving criminal
- activity. In one case, the New York State Police contacted BERT
- after a seizure of illegal fireworks. The suspect was identified
- as an active importer, and alerts were placed in the Automated
- Commercial System. In another case, agents of the Drug
- Enforcement Administration contacted BERT when a Chinese food
- importer was suspected of smuggling heroin with shipments of
- food. With the assistance of Customs, DEA agents uncovered 99
- pounds of the drug hidden in a shipment of soy sauce.
-
- A step forward has been taken in the exchange of
- intelligence among members of the law enforcement community.
- Through BET and BERT, the New York regional office of the Customs
- Service is attempting to create a more unified front against
- criminal activity involving the border.
-
-
- ____________
-
- Information for this column was contributed by Robert F.
- Fitton, Intelligence Research Specialist, U.S. Customs Service,
- New York Region.