The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) efforts into curbing subterranean, aerial, and maritime drug smuggling, stating that while the number of incidents have declined over the past five years, the department could take additional actions to curb future smuggling attempts.
For its report, GAO interviewed various DHS officials and conducted site visits to locations in California, Arizona, and Florida to examine the department’s efforts to address and curb smuggling behavior.
The report found that there were a total of 67 discovered cross-border tunnels, 534 detected ultralight aircraft incursions, and 309 smuggling incidents involving panga boats from 2011 to 2016. While the number of incidents generally declined as time passed, the report found issues with a number of DHS procedures for addressing the most-common smuggling methods.
As an example, the report cited DHS’ interagency task forces to investigate cross border tunnels, which had not established comprehensive standard operating procedures nor did it properly inform all officials of the department’s systems or offices with tunnel information. In doing so, the report said, DHS could provide strategic guidance and facilitate information sharing on a department-wide, consistent basis.
Another example cited by GAO was the department’s investment in technology projects to detect and track ultralight aircraft. The report found that DHS had not assessed and documented how those technical solutions would fully address operational requirements or the costs and benefits associated with investing in new technology.
To help ensure DHS anti-smuggling efforts are effective, GAO made a number of recommendations, including that DHS establish procedures for addressing tunnels, assessing ultralight aircraft technology, and establishing performance measures and targets.
While DHS agreed with four of the report’s recommendations, it disagreed with those to establish tunnel procedures and maritime performance measures, citing other efforts being made in curbing smuggling behavior.