Investigators Find Gaps In Northern Border Security After A Series Of Tests

WASHINGTON (AP) – A smuggler could easily carry radioactive material or other contraband across the northern border into the United States, government investigators have found.

The Government Accountability Office sent out investigators to test how easily they could transfer large red duffel bags at unguarded and unmonitored spots along the more than 5,000 miles of U.S.-Canada border. The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, described in a 13-page report to be delivered to Congress on Thursday how easily they were able to penetrate the border at several spots.

A copy of the report was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. “Our work shows that a determined cross-border violator would likely be able to bring radioactive materials or other contraband undetected into the United States by crossing the U.S.-Canada border at any of the locations we investigated,” the GAO report concluded. The investigators tested four northern border states, which they did not identify, and conducted a 10-minute exercise at one site where they set up an exchange of a red duffel bag from one side of the border to another.

Some investigators took video and pictures of the exercise. In that instance, an alert citizen notified border officials, but authorities called to the scene were unable to find the GAO investigators. It is illegal to cross the border at any place other than an official port of entry. Investigators said that for security reasons they did not conduct similar tests at the southern border, but they also found gaps there.

Investigators who examined the U.S.-Mexico border said they observed a significant number of National Guard troops and Border Patrol personnel while driving on state roads, but found little law enforcement presence on federally managed land. Customs and Border Protection officials told the GAO “the northern border presents more of a challenge than the southern border.” The report notes that, as of May, there were 972 Border Patrol agents on the northern border, and 11,986 agents on the southern border.

By DEVLIN BARRETT Associated Press Writer

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)