Border Agents Tread Fine Line

I am standing in government offices about 30 feet above the dense northbound traffic at the Mexico border in San Ysidro, Calif., when word comes that officers have fingered a suspected smuggler and confiscated his vehicle for closer inspection. Together with ranking Customs and Border Protection officials in the San Diego sector, I rush downstairs to see an old gray car stripped down, its seats uprooted to reveal bales of marijuana carefully encased in transparent plastic wrapping. This small moment of drama unfolds just after I've arrived at the busiest border crossing in the world, where U.S. agents process 50,000 vehicles a day with an average of 2.5 passengers each, and 20,000 to 30,000 pedestrians. Smugglers routinely are part of the mix. Back upstairs a few minutes later, we're told there's another bust, probably a load of undocumented immigrants. We descend again to witness in quick succession no fewer than four nondescript cars - a Chevy Impala, a Chevy Malibu, an old Dodge sedan and a small Acura - as they're driven into CBP's secondary inspection facility.
(Government Executive story)