US fires up X-ray tech to catch illegal drugs at the border
US fires up X-ray tech to catch illegal drugs at the border
CNET
By Dara Kerr
... CBP awarded a $28.8 million contract last October to Viken Detection, which makes a handheld X-ray device called the HBI-120. Like the drive-through machines, these scanners also use backscatter imaging. Local law enforcement agencies and drug task forces have been using these handheld scanners for about a year.
Before X-ray imaging, officers would have to rip out door panels and dashboards and search tire wells if they were suspicious of a vehicle. When the large-scale X-ray machines came on the scene, they were powerful enough to see through a vehicle's thick steel exterior. But it wasn't until the past couple of years that smaller devices could handle this type of imaging.
When using the HBI-120, officers will see images scroll by that are typically dark. But if they scan over organic material, like a package of drugs or bundle of cash, they'll see an intense white signal.
"It won't tell you exactly that it's this type of drug or that type of drug," Ryan said. But "you'll be able to see those drugs hidden in parts of vehicles that shouldn't have lumps of organics in them."
Viken Detection is also developing a drive-through scanner called Osprey. Both the CBP spokesman and Ryan said the government is stepping up large-scale X-ray imaging of vehicles at the border. Ryan likened the increased scanning to when the Transportation Security Administration decided to screen all checked baggage going onto airplanes after 9/11.
"Basically the goal is, can we start screening privately owned vehicles crossing the border at a much larger scale than what they're doing today," Ryan said. "Now it's a matter of how do we get the best technology, something that's future-proof."